Merry Christmas, y'all! Sorry this is a bit late, but there was a lot of Christmas prep to do. But now I have time to chill, so I' just gonna write this now real quick. Truth be told I had some time to chill yesterday evening as well, but I was super tired and the last part kinda fecked my entire plan for the last part, but! I have a new idea. It'll be fine.
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Alice turns around with a wide smile on her face and at that same moment Kevin realises he remembers her name again. He also realises he remembers a lot of other things, most of which he didn't even know he had forgotten. Interactions they had in the three years before her amnesia. Times he thought she hadn't been there, when in reality he just hadn't remembered.
"Holy shit," says Sam, and he figures they had a very similar experience. After all, he had introduced the two more than two years ago.
"I remember again," says Alice. "I remember everything."
The whole world turns white and they're back where they started. Back in the shop, back in the ritual room.The sigil on the floor is no longer glowing, and the portal is gone.
"Okay, so I understand why you remembered," Kevin starts but she's already walking past him and out of the room. "But why did we-- hey, I'm talking to you! Wait!"
She doesn't.
He and Sam hurry after her.
"Would you slow down?" he says as they catch up to her quick pace.
"Nope," she says and in fact speeds up. "It's not over yet."
"Then could you please at least talk while you walk? What exactly is going on?"
She giggles lightly, but doesn't slow down. He frowns at her.
"What's so funny?" he asks.
"It's not often that I know something you don't," she says with a smile. "I kinda like it."
"Alice," he says and she gasps.
"It's been so long since someone's called me that!" she says. "I've missed my name."
"Why didn't we remember your name?" Sam asks, taking over while he grumbles under his breath. "Why didn't you remember your name?"
"Because she gave it to me," she says and Sam and Kevin exchange a look. His mind feels tingly when he tries to think about that. "Vanessa did."
And the memories they just got back piece themselves together even more. Vanessa, of course, Vanessa, she had been there too with Alice, the two of them almost inseparable. Vanessa with her smile. Vanessa with her songs. Vanessa with her kindness, with her help, her wit.
Vanessa with her long red hair.
"Oh," says Kevin.
"So you see," says Alice, and while there's still a smile on her face, there's also determination in her eyes, "this was never about me forgetting my life. It was about everybody forgetting her."
She slams open the door to the showroom floor.
"But what does that mean?" he asks. She looks around, spots a large antique desk and makes a beeline for it.
"It means we messed up," she says, kneeling down and sliding her hand along the bottom of the desk. "We went to the Fey Wilds--"
"What?" he screeches. She looks up, unimpressed. "Why would you ever go, oh, because I sent you."
"Yeah. You sent us."
"Well, shit. No wonder I've felt so responsible in this whole thing."
"So what happened in the Fey Wilds?" asks Sam and she goes back to fiddling with the desk.
"We were gonna get some mushrooms and then come back. It was supposed to be a quick ten minute, in and out kind of thing. But then," she sighs, "Oberon showed up."
"The King himself?!" shouts Kevin.
"Yeah, apparently we were in the wrong place at the wrong time and he didn't like that we were picking his mushrooms, so... He wanted to keep us there forever." She punches the desk and a piece falls out.
"Hey! Watch the merchandise!"
"Yeah, yeah," she says, waving him off. She picks the fallen box off the floor and stands up. "I was freaking out at that point, I was sure we'd be stuck in the Wilds for all eternity. But Nessa made him a deal. She stays behind and I can come home, but if I manage to find her again within a year, she can come leave as well."
"And if you don't?" Sam asks, quietly. She looks at them and beneath the determination is a solemn acceptance.
"Then I go back. And we both stay."
"This is madness!" Kevin yells. "We just managed to figure this thing out and now there's a part two? New Years eve is in a fortnight, and now we have to go to the goddamn Wilds?!
"'We' don't have to anything," she says, frowning at him. "I have to go to the Wilds. I don't expect you to come with me."
"Alice," Sam says, placing a hand on her arm. "Do you really think we'll let you go alone?"
"I never should've asked you to go there in the first place," Kevin mutters as he stalks over to his desk and starts to pull items out from the drawers. "Should've known better to send a human into the Wilds..."
"What he's trying to say, is of course we'll help you get her back. You are our friend, and so is she."
Alice smiles, small and soft and tired.
"So how do we find her?" Kevin asks, shoving things into a duffel bag. Sam gives him a look, and he stops for a moment and takes a breath.
"With this," says Alice, and opens the box. Inside is a large, white conch shell. He can hear the crashing of waves from inside it, and he's standing a good three meters away. She puts the box aside and holds the shell with both hands, brings it close to her chest. She closes her eyes.
"Alice?" comes a voice from inside the shell.
"Vanessa," she breathes out. The tenseness in her shoulders loosens instantly. "Vanessa, we're coming for you."
"I knew you would," says Vanessa, "I'll be waiting."
END.
FOR NOW.
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SURPRISE there's gonna be a sequel! Or maybe there won't but now there's a chance for one! Maybe we can continue this next year? I don't know.
But yeah, originally I wanted the Guardian to literally be Vanessa, hanging out with them without them being able to see her, but after part 23 that... didn't make sense anymore? I don't think. Bc the Guardian was established to be like the manifestation of the lost memories. Although Kevin did hear her before she went to the Garden, so idk how that's supposed to work. Anyway here you go!
This concludes our yearly posting spree, see you again in a year lmao
Pie out.
PS From matleena: If you want to continue reading this, we picked it up again in December 2020. So you can find the fisrt part of part two here.
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Monday, December 23, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 23 - Her
She blinks against the whiteness around her and tries to shade her eyes, but it's coming from all directions. No, not all, she realises after a few seconds. The otherwise completely blank white is darkening to one direction. And the whiteness isn't empty either, she can feel things around her, even though she doesn't have the words to describe the things or the feeling. She does know those things are irrelevant to her, though. They don't mean her harm. They're indifferent towards her.
Suddenly there's someone else next to her. Kevin. Sam appears a moment later and curses as they, too, are blinded by the white world. The things around her seem to perk up a bit as a reaction to the new presences, but they soon calm back down and ignore them.
The misty form of her Guardian is standing (floating?) a little ways away from them, towards the direction of the dark.
"Help me," it says in a small voice, "Please, follow me. This way."
It turns and heads towards the darkness, and she follows without hesitation. She doesn't look back to see if Kevin and Sam are coming too, but soon they fall in step next to her.
They walk for a long time. Or at least for a time that feels long. She's not sure that time means the same thing here than it means out in the world she's used to. The farther they go, the darker it gets. Or, rather, the blacker it gets. She can still see the other two walking beside her without a problem, in a light that seems to have no direction. It just is. It's only the color of the world around them that slowly turns from white to black.
The things around her are shifting a bit now, uneasily, in a way that makes her feel like an intruder. But somehow she knows she's safe here. As she knows the other two are safe here too.
"Do you feel that?" she asks Kevin anyway, quietly.
"Feel what?" he asks. He clearly doesn't. If he did, he would know what she's talking about.
"I do," Sam says. "I think. A slight uneasiness in the air? It's not much, but it's there if you focus on the right things."
She nods. Kevin looks irritated that the two of them know something he doesn't.
"Don't let the uneasiness get to you. We're safe," she tells them.
"How do you know?" Sam asks.
"I just do," she says. Neither of them tries to press the point. She guesses that none of them know what's going on, or where they are, but somehow they still trust her to know they're safe, and she's grateful to them for it.
Finally they come to an ornate wall, and to a gate in the wall. It's the first solid thing she's seen the whole time. The Guardian floats through the gate, and merges with something on the other side. The thing is glowing slightly, and unlike the figure they followed, is solid. It is holding on to the bars on the gate, on the other side. The world around is entirely black now.
"Help me," the figure on the other side of the gate. "I want to be free."
"Where are we, and who are you?" she asks the figure, but gently. She doesn't want to scare it. It stares at her for a moment, confused.
"You don't know?" it asks, and she shakes her head. "We're in your mind. And I am what memories become when they are forcefully, magically forgotten. I have been trying to reach you, to help you, so that one day you might know I'm here and come to help me instead."
She stares at the figure, hears Sam's small gasp. Kevin, on her other side, has visibly tensed. She didn't know what she expected from the spell, but this wasn't it. Clearly the same was true of the other two too.
"How could I hear you? Sense you?" Kevin asks beside her, before she manages to find words for anything.
"I grew stronger in the Garden, with more forgotten memories. Not much, with so little she remembered at the time, and most memories were consumed by the Garden and didn't come to me." It shakes its head. "Honestly, I don't know. But I don't know much about magic. You were always the one who did know, Kevin. And you've always have a knack for sensing the magical."
"You're my memories? From the years I've forgotten" she asks, finally getting her thoughts back together enough to form a sentence. The figure nods. "And if I find a way to get you out, I will remember again?"
It was starting to make sense. Somehow. It was all too surreal, so instead she simply tried to focus on what she felt was true. The figure nodded again.
"But you already have a way to let me out," it says. "You have the key."
"What?"
"You have the key. I tried to use it, when I saw you in the reflection, hoping that that would mean we were united enough, that you could in that moment help me in using it. But it didn't work, as I should have known it wouldn't. It only caused pain. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."
What...
"The melody."
"Do you remember how it went?" Kevin asks.
"I..." she thinks for a moment. "I think so." She turns to the figure behind the gate, "What do I do?"
"You sing the melody," it tells her. "It's the melody that was used to seal the memories away. It is what can free them."
She closes her eyes. Takes a deep breath. Starts humming. Carefully at first, testing the sound, seeing if she can remember it. Slowly she grows more confident, and the volume rises. The hum turns into a song, the song growing stronger.
And then, abruptly, the melody comes to an end and the gates before them fly open.
Alice gasps as the missing memories rush joyfully back to her.
________________________________________
I can't believe it's Christmas. It doesn't feel like Christmas. Though I acknowledge the fact that I'm on a tiny island in the Caribbean sea may have something to do with that.
My life is weird.
Anyway. The final topic is Shell.
~matleena
Suddenly there's someone else next to her. Kevin. Sam appears a moment later and curses as they, too, are blinded by the white world. The things around her seem to perk up a bit as a reaction to the new presences, but they soon calm back down and ignore them.
The misty form of her Guardian is standing (floating?) a little ways away from them, towards the direction of the dark.
"Help me," it says in a small voice, "Please, follow me. This way."
It turns and heads towards the darkness, and she follows without hesitation. She doesn't look back to see if Kevin and Sam are coming too, but soon they fall in step next to her.
They walk for a long time. Or at least for a time that feels long. She's not sure that time means the same thing here than it means out in the world she's used to. The farther they go, the darker it gets. Or, rather, the blacker it gets. She can still see the other two walking beside her without a problem, in a light that seems to have no direction. It just is. It's only the color of the world around them that slowly turns from white to black.
The things around her are shifting a bit now, uneasily, in a way that makes her feel like an intruder. But somehow she knows she's safe here. As she knows the other two are safe here too.
"Do you feel that?" she asks Kevin anyway, quietly.
"Feel what?" he asks. He clearly doesn't. If he did, he would know what she's talking about.
"I do," Sam says. "I think. A slight uneasiness in the air? It's not much, but it's there if you focus on the right things."
She nods. Kevin looks irritated that the two of them know something he doesn't.
"Don't let the uneasiness get to you. We're safe," she tells them.
"How do you know?" Sam asks.
"I just do," she says. Neither of them tries to press the point. She guesses that none of them know what's going on, or where they are, but somehow they still trust her to know they're safe, and she's grateful to them for it.
Finally they come to an ornate wall, and to a gate in the wall. It's the first solid thing she's seen the whole time. The Guardian floats through the gate, and merges with something on the other side. The thing is glowing slightly, and unlike the figure they followed, is solid. It is holding on to the bars on the gate, on the other side. The world around is entirely black now.
"Help me," the figure on the other side of the gate. "I want to be free."
"Where are we, and who are you?" she asks the figure, but gently. She doesn't want to scare it. It stares at her for a moment, confused.
"You don't know?" it asks, and she shakes her head. "We're in your mind. And I am what memories become when they are forcefully, magically forgotten. I have been trying to reach you, to help you, so that one day you might know I'm here and come to help me instead."
She stares at the figure, hears Sam's small gasp. Kevin, on her other side, has visibly tensed. She didn't know what she expected from the spell, but this wasn't it. Clearly the same was true of the other two too.
"How could I hear you? Sense you?" Kevin asks beside her, before she manages to find words for anything.
"I grew stronger in the Garden, with more forgotten memories. Not much, with so little she remembered at the time, and most memories were consumed by the Garden and didn't come to me." It shakes its head. "Honestly, I don't know. But I don't know much about magic. You were always the one who did know, Kevin. And you've always have a knack for sensing the magical."
"You're my memories? From the years I've forgotten" she asks, finally getting her thoughts back together enough to form a sentence. The figure nods. "And if I find a way to get you out, I will remember again?"
It was starting to make sense. Somehow. It was all too surreal, so instead she simply tried to focus on what she felt was true. The figure nodded again.
"But you already have a way to let me out," it says. "You have the key."
"What?"
"You have the key. I tried to use it, when I saw you in the reflection, hoping that that would mean we were united enough, that you could in that moment help me in using it. But it didn't work, as I should have known it wouldn't. It only caused pain. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."
What...
"The melody."
"Do you remember how it went?" Kevin asks.
"I..." she thinks for a moment. "I think so." She turns to the figure behind the gate, "What do I do?"
"You sing the melody," it tells her. "It's the melody that was used to seal the memories away. It is what can free them."
She closes her eyes. Takes a deep breath. Starts humming. Carefully at first, testing the sound, seeing if she can remember it. Slowly she grows more confident, and the volume rises. The hum turns into a song, the song growing stronger.
And then, abruptly, the melody comes to an end and the gates before them fly open.
Alice gasps as the missing memories rush joyfully back to her.
________________________________________
I can't believe it's Christmas. It doesn't feel like Christmas. Though I acknowledge the fact that I'm on a tiny island in the Caribbean sea may have something to do with that.
My life is weird.
Anyway. The final topic is Shell.
~matleena
Sunday, December 22, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 22 - Follow
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sam asks, leaning their hip onto Kevin's desk. He's grinding up the now dried winterberries in a mortar as they wait for her.
"Sure," he says with a shrug. They give him a look. He scoffs. "Of course I don't know if this is a good idea! We have no idea what the spell does. But it's her spell and her decision, and she wants to do it, so..." He shrugs again and continues grinding.
"I'm just worried," they say.
"I know," he says, softer this time. "I do appreciate it, and I'm sure she does too. Speaking of..."
A bell dings and a door slams open and she bursts in, face red and panting.
"I came as soon as I could," she says, trying to catch her breath, as she starts to peel of her winter clothes.
"Evidently," says Kevin, looking at her amused. "Did you run the entire way here?"
"...maybe?"
He snorts. "Well, that's just dandy," he says and picks up the mortar. He motions to the door and the sign flips closed. "Let's go to the back so we can get started."
He leads them down the hallway. A long way down the hallway, until finally he stops in front of a blank wall. And turns. And grins. The other two stand there, looking at his expectantly. He doesn't do anything.
"We get it, you have a cool secret door there, just open it up already," she huffs after a minute and his face falls.
"You're no fun," he says, turning to the door and draws a complex sigil into the wall with his pointer and middle finger. "You were supposed to go 'Oh, Kevin there's nothing here! Why did we stop?' And I was gonna blow your minds with my hidden door."
"You're a nerd, you know that right?" she asks as a dark wooden door materialises onto the wall and he pushes it open.
He just sighs and shakes his head and then they all enter.
The room isn't large, but it is more or less empty. There's a few bookshelves against the walls and a small desk in one corner, but nothing else in the way of furniture. The walls are stone, as is the floor, and there's a pretty big magic circle painted on it. In the middle of which is a bowl with most of the ingredients. The morning wind is swirling around the bracelet, lifting up the sparkles rising from the First Love coating the bottom.
"Careful with the lines," Kevin says as he steps into the circle and pours the berry powder on top of the rest. "Chuck the hair ribbon in and stand above the bowl, if you would."
She does. He's at the back of the room, shuffling through the papers and Sam is settling down against a wall. Their equipment bag is resting by their feet, open and ready.
"Here we go," he says, picking up a paper and a matchbox and turning back around. He throws the box at her. She catches it. "I'm gonna start the incantation. When I give you the sign," he points at her, "you light the stuff on fire. Do not! Get out of the circle. And you," he points at Sam, who blinks, "do not get into the circle. Any questions?"
"What if I have to get into the circle?" Sam asks. "If something happens to her?"
"Something will happen to her, that's almost a given," he says, looking at her. She looks nervous, but also determined. Good. "But if you get into the circle then the entire thing might backfire and something will happen to all of us. I get that you're worried, but the best thing to do is ensure this thing goes off exactly as instructed. Since we don't know the purpose, we don't know the consequences of fucking up."
"Fair enough," they say, though they don't sound happy about it.
"Are you ready?" he asks. She nods, grips the matchbox. He gives Sam one more glance, before he starts.
The circle starts to glow, getting brighter and brighter until it illuminates the entire room. A deep hum starts to resonate within the walls. He can feel it reverberating in his guts. He doesn't falter.
She's starting to shake a bit. Out of fear or excitement, he isn't sure. Her face is set though, so he isn't worried she's going to chicken at the very last minute. She has a match ready to strike against the box.
Sam on the other hand looks ready to bolt. Their hands are folded across their chest and they're gripping their arm so tightly their knuckles are starting to turn white. The few dim lamps that hang on the walls flicker slightly. The hum grows louder.
He points at her and she's already lit the match. She drops it, and the flame falls, falls, falls. It lands in the bowl.
A burst of fire erupts from it. She lets out a small yelp and steps back, but not out of the circle. The hum has come to an abrupt stop and now that it's gone it feels like something is missing. The bowl burns and for a second nothing else happens.
"I feel weird," she says and then gags. She slaps a hand on her mouth and wraps an arm around her stomach.
"Are you okay?" asks Sam, alarmed.
"Woah, are you gonna puke?" asks Kevin, taking a cautionary step back. "Mind the shoes, please." They throw him another dirty look.
"I'm not gonna-- ngk!" she tries, but can't get more than a few words out at once.
She's doubled over now, twitching lightly, trying to breathe. She tries to swallow a few times, but to no avail. Finally she just heaves and...
Well, it's not vomit that comes out. It's more like fog. Like a light orange mist that flows out of her and congregates in front of her, hovering. It just keeps pouring and pouring, and eventually it starts to take shape. A humanoid shape.
It's still very wispy, but it's definitely a human shape.
Please, it says. Save me.
The still smouldering bowl explodes into life again, creating a swirling, pulsating oval midair.
"Shit," says Sam, clutching the front of their shirt. "Is that a goddamn portal?"
"It sure looks like it," Kevin says, peering around it. "I wonder where it goes."
Come. Follow me.
The humanoid cloud disappears through the portal.
"Huh," he says. "Should... should we follow it? I may be full of dumb ideas but jumping unprepared through a wormhole whose destination you don't know is kinda up there, even for me."
"You can say that again," they mutter then turn to her. She is staring into the portal. "You okay there?"
"That was her," she says. "My Guardian."
"Huh," he says again. Everyone is still for a moment.
"I have to go," she says and steps through. He lets his barely outstretched arm drop back to his side. He looks at Sam. They look back.
"We gotta go after her," he says.
"Yeah, I know, I know," they say.
And the two of them follow her through the looking glass.
_____________________________________________________
Hey hey hey! Sorry this is a bit late, I had some formatting issues. BUT! I'm very excited I got to use my funky font again lmao also this thing is almost done! Can you believe it's already the 22nd? I sure as hell can't! I have school work due today!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
In any case it's super late again so I'm just gonna go to bed now and figure out the stupid pictures in the morning! Next topic is "Her" bye~
Pie out.
"Sure," he says with a shrug. They give him a look. He scoffs. "Of course I don't know if this is a good idea! We have no idea what the spell does. But it's her spell and her decision, and she wants to do it, so..." He shrugs again and continues grinding.
"I'm just worried," they say.
"I know," he says, softer this time. "I do appreciate it, and I'm sure she does too. Speaking of..."
A bell dings and a door slams open and she bursts in, face red and panting.
"I came as soon as I could," she says, trying to catch her breath, as she starts to peel of her winter clothes.
"Evidently," says Kevin, looking at her amused. "Did you run the entire way here?"
"...maybe?"
He snorts. "Well, that's just dandy," he says and picks up the mortar. He motions to the door and the sign flips closed. "Let's go to the back so we can get started."
He leads them down the hallway. A long way down the hallway, until finally he stops in front of a blank wall. And turns. And grins. The other two stand there, looking at his expectantly. He doesn't do anything.
"We get it, you have a cool secret door there, just open it up already," she huffs after a minute and his face falls.
"You're no fun," he says, turning to the door and draws a complex sigil into the wall with his pointer and middle finger. "You were supposed to go 'Oh, Kevin there's nothing here! Why did we stop?' And I was gonna blow your minds with my hidden door."
"You're a nerd, you know that right?" she asks as a dark wooden door materialises onto the wall and he pushes it open.
He just sighs and shakes his head and then they all enter.
The room isn't large, but it is more or less empty. There's a few bookshelves against the walls and a small desk in one corner, but nothing else in the way of furniture. The walls are stone, as is the floor, and there's a pretty big magic circle painted on it. In the middle of which is a bowl with most of the ingredients. The morning wind is swirling around the bracelet, lifting up the sparkles rising from the First Love coating the bottom.
"Careful with the lines," Kevin says as he steps into the circle and pours the berry powder on top of the rest. "Chuck the hair ribbon in and stand above the bowl, if you would."
She does. He's at the back of the room, shuffling through the papers and Sam is settling down against a wall. Their equipment bag is resting by their feet, open and ready.
"Here we go," he says, picking up a paper and a matchbox and turning back around. He throws the box at her. She catches it. "I'm gonna start the incantation. When I give you the sign," he points at her, "you light the stuff on fire. Do not! Get out of the circle. And you," he points at Sam, who blinks, "do not get into the circle. Any questions?"
"What if I have to get into the circle?" Sam asks. "If something happens to her?"
"Something will happen to her, that's almost a given," he says, looking at her. She looks nervous, but also determined. Good. "But if you get into the circle then the entire thing might backfire and something will happen to all of us. I get that you're worried, but the best thing to do is ensure this thing goes off exactly as instructed. Since we don't know the purpose, we don't know the consequences of fucking up."
"Fair enough," they say, though they don't sound happy about it.
"Are you ready?" he asks. She nods, grips the matchbox. He gives Sam one more glance, before he starts.
The circle starts to glow, getting brighter and brighter until it illuminates the entire room. A deep hum starts to resonate within the walls. He can feel it reverberating in his guts. He doesn't falter.
She's starting to shake a bit. Out of fear or excitement, he isn't sure. Her face is set though, so he isn't worried she's going to chicken at the very last minute. She has a match ready to strike against the box.
Sam on the other hand looks ready to bolt. Their hands are folded across their chest and they're gripping their arm so tightly their knuckles are starting to turn white. The few dim lamps that hang on the walls flicker slightly. The hum grows louder.
He points at her and she's already lit the match. She drops it, and the flame falls, falls, falls. It lands in the bowl.
A burst of fire erupts from it. She lets out a small yelp and steps back, but not out of the circle. The hum has come to an abrupt stop and now that it's gone it feels like something is missing. The bowl burns and for a second nothing else happens.
"I feel weird," she says and then gags. She slaps a hand on her mouth and wraps an arm around her stomach.
"Are you okay?" asks Sam, alarmed.
"Woah, are you gonna puke?" asks Kevin, taking a cautionary step back. "Mind the shoes, please." They throw him another dirty look.
"I'm not gonna-- ngk!" she tries, but can't get more than a few words out at once.
She's doubled over now, twitching lightly, trying to breathe. She tries to swallow a few times, but to no avail. Finally she just heaves and...
Well, it's not vomit that comes out. It's more like fog. Like a light orange mist that flows out of her and congregates in front of her, hovering. It just keeps pouring and pouring, and eventually it starts to take shape. A humanoid shape.
It's still very wispy, but it's definitely a human shape.
Please, it says. Save me.
The still smouldering bowl explodes into life again, creating a swirling, pulsating oval midair.
"Shit," says Sam, clutching the front of their shirt. "Is that a goddamn portal?"
"It sure looks like it," Kevin says, peering around it. "I wonder where it goes."
Come. Follow me.
The humanoid cloud disappears through the portal.
"Huh," he says. "Should... should we follow it? I may be full of dumb ideas but jumping unprepared through a wormhole whose destination you don't know is kinda up there, even for me."
"You can say that again," they mutter then turn to her. She is staring into the portal. "You okay there?"
"That was her," she says. "My Guardian."
"Huh," he says again. Everyone is still for a moment.
"I have to go," she says and steps through. He lets his barely outstretched arm drop back to his side. He looks at Sam. They look back.
"We gotta go after her," he says.
"Yeah, I know, I know," they say.
And the two of them follow her through the looking glass.
_____________________________________________________
Hey hey hey! Sorry this is a bit late, I had some formatting issues. BUT! I'm very excited I got to use my funky font again lmao also this thing is almost done! Can you believe it's already the 22nd? I sure as hell can't! I have school work due today!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
In any case it's super late again so I'm just gonna go to bed now and figure out the stupid pictures in the morning! Next topic is "Her" bye~
Pie out.
Saturday, December 21, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 21 - Blurt
When she wakes up again and after Sam checks her over, Kevin practically throws her out. Okay, maybe that's a little harshly put, but he informs her that it will take a couple of days to prepare the spell before it ready to be cast, so she should go home and rest. Do whatever she does to relax. That she has all the ingredients, and there is no more hurry, and that everything will be okay.
She tells him she wants to stay, to watch him prepare, but he says he needs to focus, and her presence wouldn't help with that. That she really should go home.
So she does, feeling like she's not being told everything. She's annoyed at Kevin for that. This is literally all about her life and he's still keeping secrets. But there's no winning with Kevin and secrets, and she knows that. He'll hold on to the ones he decides to hold on. And another part of her is, for a fleeting moment, grateful to him for giving her a chance to rest. He's right about that. She needs it. It's been a long... year. But then she gets home, and finds she has nothing to do except run through the same thoughts she's run through thousands of times in the last year about what will happen after the spell is cast. So instead of resting, she finds herself pacing her apartment nervously.
She just wants to get it over with.
There's a knock on her door. She stops pacing and looks at the door, confused. She has pretty much managed to alienate all friends in the last year with her endless hunt for ingredients taking all her time. Especially in the last month or two, with the deadline closing in. She went on one date, but hasn't had the time to get back to that after, despite desperately wanting to. But this spell has to come first in her life right now. Everything else can be sorted out after. Soon.
She walks wearily to the door and opens it. It's Sam.
"Hi," they say. "Just thought I'd check up on you on my way home. See how you're doing."
She's sure the confusion is shining brightly on her face.
"Kevin sent you?" she blurts out before she can help herself. She cringes internally at herself.
"Yes, but also I wanted to come," they answer after a brief pause. "I worry about you too, you know. I've gotten myself involved in this now, and I've seen you do things to yourself no person should ever do." She looked apologetic for a moment before continuing. "And Kevin said you have a Guardian?"
"Oh," she says, and waves Sam in. "I'm doing okay. Just nervous. I've been working on this spell for a year, and it's finally ready soon, and I have no idea what it does, and if I'm honest I'm scared to find out."
"That's understandable," Sam says as they follow her into the tiny living room.
"Yeah, well," she shrugs. "Kevin sent me to rest, but instead I pace and worry."
"Do you want me to put together something to help you sleep?" they ask. She shakes her head.
"I'll sleep when this is over."
"If you don't know what the spell does," Sam says slowly, "I would imagine it would be a good idea to be well rested going in. Don't you?"
She just shrugs again. They look at her for a moment, waiting for a different response. When they don't get one, they move on.
"So, a Guardian?"
And they talk, for a long time. She tells them how she thinks she's had it for the whole year, at least. How she didn't know it was there until she saw it in the Fountain. Sam tells her Kevin thinks the Guardians are linked to memories, not the Garden. And together they hypothesize. Neither knows much about Guardians, but she likes to be able to just talk to someone about it. Kevin is great, but he always needs to solve the mystery. Not that she doesn't, but in the meantime she likes having someone who doesn't try, but only listens and talks.
They finally agree that they don't know where the Guardian came from, but it seems like it's a good thing. It's late when Sam leaves, and she goes straight to bed. Unlike what she would have guessed a few hours earlier, she falls asleep easily. The talk with Sam may not have reached any new conclusions, but they did let her overthinking brain get it all out and stop thinking about it all for long enough to sleep.
It takes a day and a half until she hears from Kevin. It's early afternoon and her phone makes a sound in her pocket.
«We're ready to go.»
She drops everything and heads to the shop.
_________________________________________________
Wasn't I literally just writing part 11? When did 21 happen? What have I been doing all those days? Where was I even on the 11th? La Fortuna? I don't know. The farther into the trip I go, the less I have any idea of days. And I bet that's going to get worse as we finish with this and then there's nothing that I can use to track time. Other than what, like, my phone says about what day it is.
Either way the topic for tomorrow is Follow.
~matleena
She tells him she wants to stay, to watch him prepare, but he says he needs to focus, and her presence wouldn't help with that. That she really should go home.
So she does, feeling like she's not being told everything. She's annoyed at Kevin for that. This is literally all about her life and he's still keeping secrets. But there's no winning with Kevin and secrets, and she knows that. He'll hold on to the ones he decides to hold on. And another part of her is, for a fleeting moment, grateful to him for giving her a chance to rest. He's right about that. She needs it. It's been a long... year. But then she gets home, and finds she has nothing to do except run through the same thoughts she's run through thousands of times in the last year about what will happen after the spell is cast. So instead of resting, she finds herself pacing her apartment nervously.
She just wants to get it over with.
There's a knock on her door. She stops pacing and looks at the door, confused. She has pretty much managed to alienate all friends in the last year with her endless hunt for ingredients taking all her time. Especially in the last month or two, with the deadline closing in. She went on one date, but hasn't had the time to get back to that after, despite desperately wanting to. But this spell has to come first in her life right now. Everything else can be sorted out after. Soon.
She walks wearily to the door and opens it. It's Sam.
"Hi," they say. "Just thought I'd check up on you on my way home. See how you're doing."
She's sure the confusion is shining brightly on her face.
"Kevin sent you?" she blurts out before she can help herself. She cringes internally at herself.
"Yes, but also I wanted to come," they answer after a brief pause. "I worry about you too, you know. I've gotten myself involved in this now, and I've seen you do things to yourself no person should ever do." She looked apologetic for a moment before continuing. "And Kevin said you have a Guardian?"
"Oh," she says, and waves Sam in. "I'm doing okay. Just nervous. I've been working on this spell for a year, and it's finally ready soon, and I have no idea what it does, and if I'm honest I'm scared to find out."
"That's understandable," Sam says as they follow her into the tiny living room.
"Yeah, well," she shrugs. "Kevin sent me to rest, but instead I pace and worry."
"Do you want me to put together something to help you sleep?" they ask. She shakes her head.
"I'll sleep when this is over."
"If you don't know what the spell does," Sam says slowly, "I would imagine it would be a good idea to be well rested going in. Don't you?"
She just shrugs again. They look at her for a moment, waiting for a different response. When they don't get one, they move on.
"So, a Guardian?"
And they talk, for a long time. She tells them how she thinks she's had it for the whole year, at least. How she didn't know it was there until she saw it in the Fountain. Sam tells her Kevin thinks the Guardians are linked to memories, not the Garden. And together they hypothesize. Neither knows much about Guardians, but she likes to be able to just talk to someone about it. Kevin is great, but he always needs to solve the mystery. Not that she doesn't, but in the meantime she likes having someone who doesn't try, but only listens and talks.
They finally agree that they don't know where the Guardian came from, but it seems like it's a good thing. It's late when Sam leaves, and she goes straight to bed. Unlike what she would have guessed a few hours earlier, she falls asleep easily. The talk with Sam may not have reached any new conclusions, but they did let her overthinking brain get it all out and stop thinking about it all for long enough to sleep.
~x~
It takes a day and a half until she hears from Kevin. It's early afternoon and her phone makes a sound in her pocket.
«We're ready to go.»
She drops everything and heads to the shop.
_________________________________________________
Wasn't I literally just writing part 11? When did 21 happen? What have I been doing all those days? Where was I even on the 11th? La Fortuna? I don't know. The farther into the trip I go, the less I have any idea of days. And I bet that's going to get worse as we finish with this and then there's nothing that I can use to track time. Other than what, like, my phone says about what day it is.
Either way the topic for tomorrow is Follow.
~matleena
Friday, December 20, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 20 - Archive
Kevin has barely any time to flip the sign over when an earsplitting scream fills the air. He winces, stands up. She's still screaming, not as loud anymore, but still screaming, hugging herself. Her eyes are wide open, tears flowing freely out, saliva dripping from her open mouth. She's not sobbing, not bawling, just... tears.
He rounds the table carefully and approaches her. She's on her knees on the floor, rocking back and forth.
"You're okay," he says, trying to be firm, but gentle. "You're safe here, you're okay." He kneels next to her, reaches a slow hand towards her. She flinches and he retracts it. "It's okay, it's just me. It's just Kevin."
She yells.
He tries again, slowly, slowly reaching a hand towards her. She doesn't flinch this time, just keeps rocking. His fingers brush against her upper arm.
She stops screaming, breathes hard instead. The tears are still falling and she swallows thickly a few times. She looks up at him. There's snot and slobber all over her face.
"Kevin..." she croaks out.
Her eyes roll back in her head and she falls forwards. He's there to catch her.
"Oopsie daisy," he says, repositioning her so she's not face first in his shoulder. He pulls out his phone to shoot Sam a quick text before letting out a sigh. He pets her hair. "You've been passing out a lot lately, haven't you?" he asks her, though of course he doesn't expect an answer; she is unconscious.
Don't worry, you're fine.
He tenses. Glances around, tries to listen. Then he shakes his head, gathers her up in his arms and carries her back.
~x~
The Archive is a large, very large, room with rows and rows of shelves stretching from the door until what seems like infinity. The shelves are filled with books of all different sizes and ages, organized in a cryptic manner. Between the shelves is the occasional table and chairs, most of their surfaces covered in piles of books and scrolls and loose paper. Kevin stands in front of one of the shelves, leafing through a book, not quite processing the letters into words. He came here to double check everything for the spell, but he can't quite make himself focus.
The door to the Archive opens and he glances over. Sam walks in and sighs.
"She's sleeping again," they say. They walk over to the nearest table and pull up a chair for themself. "Physically she's fine. Mentally... ehh." They wave their hand in a so-so motion. "We'll know for sure when she wakes up."
"I was expecting something like this, to be honest," he says, closing the book and pushing it back into the shelf. "The fear hadn't been in the vial very long, maybe a few hours? But it did seem like she was very scared to begin with."
"Yeah, well," they say, ruffling a hand through their hair. "I've never heard of a fatal case using a Vial of Phobos, aside from the ones who let the thing explode, so we should be just fine. She'll need to take a few days to recover though. So if you were thinking of starting your spell thingy as soon as she wakes up," they point a finger at him and squint their eyes, "don't."
"I won't, I won't," he says, raising his hands in defeat. They start to look through the books and stuff on the table as he continues, "She's been working herself down to the bone recently, I think it'll do her good to just chill for a day or two. We have time enough for that. Plus, I'll be prepping the spell, so there isn't even anything left for her to do." He pauses, looks away for a moment. "Huh. She really got all the ingredients. Impressive."
"Hey, so why do you have manuscripts of Guardians on the table?"
He looks over at Sam, who is shuffling through papers with a frown on their face.
"You know why," he says. They press their mouth into a thin line, but don't look up from the papers.
"And why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because I wanted to confirm it first. Didn't want to alarm you in case I was wrong.
"And did you? Confirm it?"
"I... Yeah, we did."
"And it's benevolent?" They press a hand on top of his and there is a hidden desperation in their eyes as they stare at him. "Please, Kev, tell me it's benevolent. She has been through so much..."
"It it," he assures them, but then, "It seems to be."
"Seems to be? What does that mean?"
"There was a bit of an... altercation yesterday. I showed her the Fountain and she saw it in the reflection, which was fine, but then her head started hurting and she apparently heard some kind of melody and then she passed out."
"She passed out?" Sam screeches and their chair screeches too as it scrapes against the floor when they jump up. "What the fuck, Kevin, why didn't you call me?!"
"It was fine!" he hurries to say, but they slam a fist to the table.
"How did you know that?" they shout and they are so angry, he hasn't seen them this angry in many years, he had quite forgotten how scary they are like this...
"It told me," he says and they freeze. He averts his eyes for a moment, but then looks back again. "The Guardian. I can... hear it's voice, sometimes. At first I thought it was her and she seems to think that they're her thoughts, but... it speaks, Sam. In full, coherent sentences. Only sometimes though, and never when I try to hear it. I don't even know if it knows I hear it."
They're still standing, leaning across the table. There's a blank expression on their face as they try to process the new information. He lets them, not saying anything else. Just sitting there.
"Wow," they say and drop back down onto the chair.
"Yeah, I know," he says. "I've never heard of anything like this happening. Guardians never interact directly with their charges, let alone someone completely different. It's weird."
"That is weird," they agree. "What... what does it say?"
"Mostly reassuring things. Like 'you're fine' and 'you can do it' and such. So it is very clearly attached to her. She also... She said she thinks she's had it for a while now."
"A while? Like longer than since you got back."
"Yeah, like over a year."
"That's..." He nods as they just stare.
"Since she lost her memory. Which makes me think... maybe Guardians aren't tied to the Garden... but to lost memories."
Sam stands up again, rubs their face.
"I'm too tired for this shit," they say and turn to leave. "I'm sleeping over tonight and tomorrow I'll check she's fine and then you can tell me all your crazy conspiracy theories."
"That's fair," he says as he stands up as well. "It is pretty late, isn't it. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
"Night, Kev."
The door closes and they're gone. Kevin stands in the Archive and thinks for a moment. His fingers brush along the papers on the table, the word "Guardian" written on the top of the page.
He looks around and listens for a moment. Then he picks up his book again.
_____________________________________________________
Whooooo boy, that was a lot. A lot of dialogue this time, which is great bc (like Sam) I'm way too tired for this shit lmao prose is hard to write when you're tired but dialogue is fine.
Next topic issssssssssssssss fuck uhhhh can't think of anything. BLURT!
idk man, I panicked. Now I'm sleep
Pie out.
He rounds the table carefully and approaches her. She's on her knees on the floor, rocking back and forth.
"You're okay," he says, trying to be firm, but gentle. "You're safe here, you're okay." He kneels next to her, reaches a slow hand towards her. She flinches and he retracts it. "It's okay, it's just me. It's just Kevin."
She yells.
He tries again, slowly, slowly reaching a hand towards her. She doesn't flinch this time, just keeps rocking. His fingers brush against her upper arm.
She stops screaming, breathes hard instead. The tears are still falling and she swallows thickly a few times. She looks up at him. There's snot and slobber all over her face.
"Kevin..." she croaks out.
Her eyes roll back in her head and she falls forwards. He's there to catch her.
"Oopsie daisy," he says, repositioning her so she's not face first in his shoulder. He pulls out his phone to shoot Sam a quick text before letting out a sigh. He pets her hair. "You've been passing out a lot lately, haven't you?" he asks her, though of course he doesn't expect an answer; she is unconscious.
Don't worry, you're fine.
He tenses. Glances around, tries to listen. Then he shakes his head, gathers her up in his arms and carries her back.
~x~
The Archive is a large, very large, room with rows and rows of shelves stretching from the door until what seems like infinity. The shelves are filled with books of all different sizes and ages, organized in a cryptic manner. Between the shelves is the occasional table and chairs, most of their surfaces covered in piles of books and scrolls and loose paper. Kevin stands in front of one of the shelves, leafing through a book, not quite processing the letters into words. He came here to double check everything for the spell, but he can't quite make himself focus.
The door to the Archive opens and he glances over. Sam walks in and sighs.
"She's sleeping again," they say. They walk over to the nearest table and pull up a chair for themself. "Physically she's fine. Mentally... ehh." They wave their hand in a so-so motion. "We'll know for sure when she wakes up."
"I was expecting something like this, to be honest," he says, closing the book and pushing it back into the shelf. "The fear hadn't been in the vial very long, maybe a few hours? But it did seem like she was very scared to begin with."
"Yeah, well," they say, ruffling a hand through their hair. "I've never heard of a fatal case using a Vial of Phobos, aside from the ones who let the thing explode, so we should be just fine. She'll need to take a few days to recover though. So if you were thinking of starting your spell thingy as soon as she wakes up," they point a finger at him and squint their eyes, "don't."
"I won't, I won't," he says, raising his hands in defeat. They start to look through the books and stuff on the table as he continues, "She's been working herself down to the bone recently, I think it'll do her good to just chill for a day or two. We have time enough for that. Plus, I'll be prepping the spell, so there isn't even anything left for her to do." He pauses, looks away for a moment. "Huh. She really got all the ingredients. Impressive."
"Hey, so why do you have manuscripts of Guardians on the table?"
He looks over at Sam, who is shuffling through papers with a frown on their face.
"You know why," he says. They press their mouth into a thin line, but don't look up from the papers.
"And why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because I wanted to confirm it first. Didn't want to alarm you in case I was wrong.
"And did you? Confirm it?"
"I... Yeah, we did."
"And it's benevolent?" They press a hand on top of his and there is a hidden desperation in their eyes as they stare at him. "Please, Kev, tell me it's benevolent. She has been through so much..."
"It it," he assures them, but then, "It seems to be."
"Seems to be? What does that mean?"
"There was a bit of an... altercation yesterday. I showed her the Fountain and she saw it in the reflection, which was fine, but then her head started hurting and she apparently heard some kind of melody and then she passed out."
"She passed out?" Sam screeches and their chair screeches too as it scrapes against the floor when they jump up. "What the fuck, Kevin, why didn't you call me?!"
"It was fine!" he hurries to say, but they slam a fist to the table.
"How did you know that?" they shout and they are so angry, he hasn't seen them this angry in many years, he had quite forgotten how scary they are like this...
"It told me," he says and they freeze. He averts his eyes for a moment, but then looks back again. "The Guardian. I can... hear it's voice, sometimes. At first I thought it was her and she seems to think that they're her thoughts, but... it speaks, Sam. In full, coherent sentences. Only sometimes though, and never when I try to hear it. I don't even know if it knows I hear it."
They're still standing, leaning across the table. There's a blank expression on their face as they try to process the new information. He lets them, not saying anything else. Just sitting there.
"Wow," they say and drop back down onto the chair.
"Yeah, I know," he says. "I've never heard of anything like this happening. Guardians never interact directly with their charges, let alone someone completely different. It's weird."
"That is weird," they agree. "What... what does it say?"
"Mostly reassuring things. Like 'you're fine' and 'you can do it' and such. So it is very clearly attached to her. She also... She said she thinks she's had it for a while now."
"A while? Like longer than since you got back."
"Yeah, like over a year."
"That's..." He nods as they just stare.
"Since she lost her memory. Which makes me think... maybe Guardians aren't tied to the Garden... but to lost memories."
Sam stands up again, rubs their face.
"I'm too tired for this shit," they say and turn to leave. "I'm sleeping over tonight and tomorrow I'll check she's fine and then you can tell me all your crazy conspiracy theories."
"That's fair," he says as he stands up as well. "It is pretty late, isn't it. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
"Night, Kev."
The door closes and they're gone. Kevin stands in the Archive and thinks for a moment. His fingers brush along the papers on the table, the word "Guardian" written on the top of the page.
He looks around and listens for a moment. Then he picks up his book again.
_____________________________________________________
Whooooo boy, that was a lot. A lot of dialogue this time, which is great bc (like Sam) I'm way too tired for this shit lmao prose is hard to write when you're tired but dialogue is fine.
Next topic issssssssssssssss fuck uhhhh can't think of anything. BLURT!
idk man, I panicked. Now I'm sleep
Pie out.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 19 - Spoon
Nope.
Nope. Absolutely not. She can't go in there again.
But she has to. And she has to today. Kevin said it would take a while to do the spell. She needs to get the berries tonight or she'll be late.
The clatter of the spoon falling from her hand brings her out if her growing panic. She picks it back up and lifts some food into her mouth. She's been staring at her dinner for long enough that it's grown cold.
She pushes it away. She doesn't have an appetite anyway. She'll eat when all this is over. The spoon is still in her hand and she's gripping it, hard. Hard enough that it's hurting her hand. With her left hand she digs from her pocket the Vial of Phobos she got from Sam, a long time ago now. They'll want it back soon. It's amazing they even let her borrow it.
It's dark outside. Has been a couple of hours. It's still early enough that someone might be out at the garden. But probably not. Not this time of the year. And the forecast says there should be fresh snow coming in tonight. Right now there isn't any, just a frozen ground. It's better to go before the snow comes. She's less likely to get caught if she doesn't leave prints.
She tries to gather her thoughts for a moment longer, tries to come up with any reason to not go, any other way to get the berries. She hasn't come up with anything in all these weeks. She doesn't come up with anything now.
She sighs, stands and walks away from the table. The spoon is left on the table, bent.
She's staring at the fence again, hating herself and the world. She can't do this. She has to do this.
She pulls out the vial from her pocket, and opens the cork. She takes her fear -- not only her fear of the dogs waiting for her on the other side of the fence, but also the fear of not making it in time, the fear of not knowing what the spell actually does, the fear that everything will go wrong, and it will all be her fault, and the fear she will never remember what happened to her in the time she can't remember -- and bottles it. It's easier than she thought. The bottle does almost all the work. All she has to do is offer it something to hold.
And suddenly everything is fine. She knows she's been avoiding this out of fear, but she doesn't quite understand in the moment what could really be that terrifying here that she's spent the last weeks avoiding it.
She's already about to jump the fence when she remembers the first rule she gave herself for the time her fear is safe in the bottle: don't be stupid, even though you're fearless. Just because she's not afraid of the dogs, it would be stupid to get caught by them.
She listens for a moment longer, then jumps the fence, listens again. Nothing. She starts to make her way towards the winterberry tree, as silently as she possibly can. Every now and then she stops to listen. Still nothing.
She makes it to the tree. Still nothing. She's clearly lucky tonight.
And then she hears them. Even though she's not afraid of them, or of getting caught, she knows it would be very stupid to let the dogs catch her, so she grabs a fistful of berries and turns to run. She knows she needs to outrun the dogs, so she speeds up as fast as she can, and keeps it up.
It's a weird feeling, running for her life without feeling the urgency of it at all.
She needs to get away, so she runs. It's that simple. Soon she's as the fence and over it. She disappears behind a corner and leaves the dogs barking on the other side.
Kevin looks up as she enters the store.
"Got berries for you," she says, and digs out the small container she put them into as soon as she was far enough from the garden it was unlikely she would get caught.
Kevin eyes her as he takes the berries.
"You didn't let your fear out of the bottle yet, did you?"
"No," she admits, embarrassed. "Look, I don't understand why I would be so afraid of something like this, but I do remember the last time. I thought it'd be better if I let all that back in the company of someone I trust."
"Fair enough," Kevin concedes. "If that person is me, I suggest you do it now. The longer you keep your fear bottled up, the worse it'll be."
She hesitates.
"You don't want to take the fear back," Kevin says. It's not a question. She shakes her head. Life is so much easier without the constant fear of everything. "You have to. Better now than later."
Don't be stupid, even though you're fearless.
She sighs, digs out the vial. She salutes Kevin, opens it, and all the fear hits her like a tsunami.
_____________________________
Well, we've got our ingredients. Now what?
The topic for tomorrow is Archive.
~matleena
Nope. Absolutely not. She can't go in there again.
But she has to. And she has to today. Kevin said it would take a while to do the spell. She needs to get the berries tonight or she'll be late.
The clatter of the spoon falling from her hand brings her out if her growing panic. She picks it back up and lifts some food into her mouth. She's been staring at her dinner for long enough that it's grown cold.
She pushes it away. She doesn't have an appetite anyway. She'll eat when all this is over. The spoon is still in her hand and she's gripping it, hard. Hard enough that it's hurting her hand. With her left hand she digs from her pocket the Vial of Phobos she got from Sam, a long time ago now. They'll want it back soon. It's amazing they even let her borrow it.
It's dark outside. Has been a couple of hours. It's still early enough that someone might be out at the garden. But probably not. Not this time of the year. And the forecast says there should be fresh snow coming in tonight. Right now there isn't any, just a frozen ground. It's better to go before the snow comes. She's less likely to get caught if she doesn't leave prints.
She tries to gather her thoughts for a moment longer, tries to come up with any reason to not go, any other way to get the berries. She hasn't come up with anything in all these weeks. She doesn't come up with anything now.
She sighs, stands and walks away from the table. The spoon is left on the table, bent.
~x~
She's staring at the fence again, hating herself and the world. She can't do this. She has to do this.
She pulls out the vial from her pocket, and opens the cork. She takes her fear -- not only her fear of the dogs waiting for her on the other side of the fence, but also the fear of not making it in time, the fear of not knowing what the spell actually does, the fear that everything will go wrong, and it will all be her fault, and the fear she will never remember what happened to her in the time she can't remember -- and bottles it. It's easier than she thought. The bottle does almost all the work. All she has to do is offer it something to hold.
And suddenly everything is fine. She knows she's been avoiding this out of fear, but she doesn't quite understand in the moment what could really be that terrifying here that she's spent the last weeks avoiding it.
She's already about to jump the fence when she remembers the first rule she gave herself for the time her fear is safe in the bottle: don't be stupid, even though you're fearless. Just because she's not afraid of the dogs, it would be stupid to get caught by them.
She listens for a moment longer, then jumps the fence, listens again. Nothing. She starts to make her way towards the winterberry tree, as silently as she possibly can. Every now and then she stops to listen. Still nothing.
She makes it to the tree. Still nothing. She's clearly lucky tonight.
And then she hears them. Even though she's not afraid of them, or of getting caught, she knows it would be very stupid to let the dogs catch her, so she grabs a fistful of berries and turns to run. She knows she needs to outrun the dogs, so she speeds up as fast as she can, and keeps it up.
It's a weird feeling, running for her life without feeling the urgency of it at all.
She needs to get away, so she runs. It's that simple. Soon she's as the fence and over it. She disappears behind a corner and leaves the dogs barking on the other side.
~x~
Kevin looks up as she enters the store.
"Got berries for you," she says, and digs out the small container she put them into as soon as she was far enough from the garden it was unlikely she would get caught.
Kevin eyes her as he takes the berries.
"You didn't let your fear out of the bottle yet, did you?"
"No," she admits, embarrassed. "Look, I don't understand why I would be so afraid of something like this, but I do remember the last time. I thought it'd be better if I let all that back in the company of someone I trust."
"Fair enough," Kevin concedes. "If that person is me, I suggest you do it now. The longer you keep your fear bottled up, the worse it'll be."
She hesitates.
"You don't want to take the fear back," Kevin says. It's not a question. She shakes her head. Life is so much easier without the constant fear of everything. "You have to. Better now than later."
Don't be stupid, even though you're fearless.
She sighs, digs out the vial. She salutes Kevin, opens it, and all the fear hits her like a tsunami.
_____________________________
Well, we've got our ingredients. Now what?
The topic for tomorrow is Archive.
~matleena
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 18 - Cane
A bell dings and a door slams open.
"Monsieur Kevin, you son-of-a-bitch!" calls Leroy as he strides in, his hands thrown triumphantly into the air. He twirls around a black cane above his head, which he brings down with a bang to accentuate his halt. He grins impossibly wide as he leans on the cane. "Did you actually get it?"
Kevin looks at him with a single raised eyebrow. He's leaning back in his chair, his feet propped up on the table. She's sitting in the armchair, playing with her phone. She didn't even look up when he entered, he notes, feeling oddly proud.
"We did," he says and Leroy throws his hands in the air again.
"Magnifique!" he shouts and walks over. He places his hands on the table and leans in. "Show me."
She pulls out one of the three oranges and his head snaps around. His eyes widen and it almost looks like the gold of the orange is reflecting from them. He reaches over, but she pulls it away. They have a glaring contest.
"Monsieur Leroy," Kevin says, bringing his attention back to himself. He holds out his hand. "The First Love, if you would."
"Why, of course, 'ow rude of me," Leroy says, and straightens himself. "I just got so excited! 'Ere you go." He turns the silver knob on the end of his cane and it splits in four, opening up. A vial rises up, inside something light pink and sparkly. He plucks the vial and shakes it a bit. The contents swirl around gently as he places it on the table. Kevin picks it up, looks at it agains the light.
"Oh, yes, that's the real deal," he says with a nod and puts the vial back down. "Now just dig up that other vial and my Aquirer will hand you the Orange."
"Zere is no need to be so suspicious, monsieur Kevin," Leroy says as the second vial rises from the cane. "We are just making some business 'ere."
"Please, don't take it personally," Kevin says. Leroy slaps the second vial on his hand. "There are so many people who walk in, thinking they can swindle me. The shop's anti-theft systems are very good, of course, but I always practice a bit of extra care when it comes to the more valuable merchandise. Surely you understand."
"A proper businessman, I see," Leroy says with a smile only slightly forced. She offers up the orange again and he all but snatches it form her. He turns it around in his hands, his mouth slightly open. He looks mesmerized. "Magnifique," he says again. "Trés magnifique." Then he clears his throat and places the orange in the still open end of the cane. It distorts in shape as the cane swollows it up. He turns to look at Kevin and smiles. "Well, with zis I bid my adieu for now. I 'ope we'll make business again another time."
"You know where to find me," Kevin says with a smile. Leroy nods curtly, before spinning on his heel and walking out. A bell dings as the door behind him closes.
"Well," she says, letting out a long breath. "Now he's dealt with. What now?"
"Now," says Kevin, picking up the vials and standing. "You need to go get some winterberries."
_____________________________________________________
Nothing very long or exciting this time, had a busy day. But I think this is good for now. As Kevin said, next up is the berries and then we'll be in the endgame, bois!
But now I'm off to bed, next topic is Spoon! Bye~
Pie out.
"Monsieur Kevin, you son-of-a-bitch!" calls Leroy as he strides in, his hands thrown triumphantly into the air. He twirls around a black cane above his head, which he brings down with a bang to accentuate his halt. He grins impossibly wide as he leans on the cane. "Did you actually get it?"
Kevin looks at him with a single raised eyebrow. He's leaning back in his chair, his feet propped up on the table. She's sitting in the armchair, playing with her phone. She didn't even look up when he entered, he notes, feeling oddly proud.
"We did," he says and Leroy throws his hands in the air again.
"Magnifique!" he shouts and walks over. He places his hands on the table and leans in. "Show me."
She pulls out one of the three oranges and his head snaps around. His eyes widen and it almost looks like the gold of the orange is reflecting from them. He reaches over, but she pulls it away. They have a glaring contest.
"Monsieur Leroy," Kevin says, bringing his attention back to himself. He holds out his hand. "The First Love, if you would."
"Why, of course, 'ow rude of me," Leroy says, and straightens himself. "I just got so excited! 'Ere you go." He turns the silver knob on the end of his cane and it splits in four, opening up. A vial rises up, inside something light pink and sparkly. He plucks the vial and shakes it a bit. The contents swirl around gently as he places it on the table. Kevin picks it up, looks at it agains the light.
"Oh, yes, that's the real deal," he says with a nod and puts the vial back down. "Now just dig up that other vial and my Aquirer will hand you the Orange."
"Zere is no need to be so suspicious, monsieur Kevin," Leroy says as the second vial rises from the cane. "We are just making some business 'ere."
"Please, don't take it personally," Kevin says. Leroy slaps the second vial on his hand. "There are so many people who walk in, thinking they can swindle me. The shop's anti-theft systems are very good, of course, but I always practice a bit of extra care when it comes to the more valuable merchandise. Surely you understand."
"A proper businessman, I see," Leroy says with a smile only slightly forced. She offers up the orange again and he all but snatches it form her. He turns it around in his hands, his mouth slightly open. He looks mesmerized. "Magnifique," he says again. "Trés magnifique." Then he clears his throat and places the orange in the still open end of the cane. It distorts in shape as the cane swollows it up. He turns to look at Kevin and smiles. "Well, with zis I bid my adieu for now. I 'ope we'll make business again another time."
"You know where to find me," Kevin says with a smile. Leroy nods curtly, before spinning on his heel and walking out. A bell dings as the door behind him closes.
"Well," she says, letting out a long breath. "Now he's dealt with. What now?"
"Now," says Kevin, picking up the vials and standing. "You need to go get some winterberries."
_____________________________________________________
Nothing very long or exciting this time, had a busy day. But I think this is good for now. As Kevin said, next up is the berries and then we'll be in the endgame, bois!
But now I'm off to bed, next topic is Spoon! Bye~
Pie out.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 17 - Melody
There's a melody playing in her head, louder than infinity, and it will kill her.
It's all her world is. It hurts more than anything has ever hurt before. And even though the pain it causes takes up everything she is, she is somehow aware of two things outside of it: that there is something in her head, and that something triggered the melody, and whatever it is isn't doing it out of malice; and that shes heard that melody before. She has no idea when, or where, or why, or how, but this isn't the first time she hears the melody.
And then everything goes black.
She opens her eyes, blinks, and looks around. There's a ghost of past but recent pain in her head, and she's the kind of sticky that can only mean she's been completely covered in sweat at some point while she's been asleep. Or unconscious. She doesn't know.
She's in Kevin's bed. Again. He's nowhere to be seen. Neither is Sam, who wasn't here before, but she's sure Kevin would have called them over by now. Whenever now is.
She sits up, and immediately feels dizzy. She stop moving for a moment, waits for the dizziness to pass, then slowly makes her way to her feet. She waits a moment again, until she feels steady, then carefully walks to the door and peers through. There's no one in the hallway. She doesn't know why she would expect anyone to be in the hallway anyway. Now the problem is finding the door that Kevin is behind.
She decides to try the kitchen first. That door is close. He's not there. She's starting to feel dizzy on her feet, so she leans on the wall and slides down to a sitting position.
"Kevin?" she calls out. She can barely hear her own voice. She tries again and this time manages a louder sound. Maybe loud enough for Kevin to hear into one of the rooms. Depends on where he is.
A few moments later he does emerge through a door. She wouldn't have tried that one. She doesn't even know what's behind it. He clearly heard her, though, since he comes out of it looking like he expects to find someone.
"Hey," he says and closes the door behind himself. "How are you feeling?"
"Fantastic. That's why I'm sitting on your corridor floor," she answers, and instantly regrets it. The whisper of pain in her head is making her irritable. She changes her tone and starts again. "Just dizzy. And I feel like I've had the worst headache in my life. Which I did. But I'm okay."
"Ok, let's get you into the kitchen," Kevin says and slowly helps her off the floor. He walks her into the kitchen and sits her by the table.
"What happened at the fountain?" he asks as he sets a cup of coffee in front of her.
"I looked in, and I think I saw the Guardian. And I think it saw me, too," she says. "And then this melody started playing in my head, louder than any sound is possible, and it hurt worse than anything in my life. I think the Guardian may have triggered it."
"The Guardians are supposedly benevolent," Kevin wonders. "It hurting you like that doesn't seem to fit with what little anyone knows about them."
"I don't think it was trying to hurt me," she tells him. "It didn't feel like it was trying to hurt me. And, Kevin? I think I've heard the melody before. It was a strange melody, not something you would hear when playing music. I'm not even sure if it would be possible to play it with any instrument. But a part of me recognised it. I don't know when or how or where I would have heard it, but I'm almost certain that I have."
Kevin looks at her thoughtfully for a while, then nods.
"We'll figure it out. I have no idea what the melody could be, but we'll figure it out," he promises. "But we need to make sure you're feeling okay first."
Then he feeds her more coffee and some marvelous food until she can't eat anymore, and is feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
__________________________________________________
The topic for tomorrow is Cane.
~matleena
It's all her world is. It hurts more than anything has ever hurt before. And even though the pain it causes takes up everything she is, she is somehow aware of two things outside of it: that there is something in her head, and that something triggered the melody, and whatever it is isn't doing it out of malice; and that shes heard that melody before. She has no idea when, or where, or why, or how, but this isn't the first time she hears the melody.
And then everything goes black.
~x~
She opens her eyes, blinks, and looks around. There's a ghost of past but recent pain in her head, and she's the kind of sticky that can only mean she's been completely covered in sweat at some point while she's been asleep. Or unconscious. She doesn't know.
She's in Kevin's bed. Again. He's nowhere to be seen. Neither is Sam, who wasn't here before, but she's sure Kevin would have called them over by now. Whenever now is.
She sits up, and immediately feels dizzy. She stop moving for a moment, waits for the dizziness to pass, then slowly makes her way to her feet. She waits a moment again, until she feels steady, then carefully walks to the door and peers through. There's no one in the hallway. She doesn't know why she would expect anyone to be in the hallway anyway. Now the problem is finding the door that Kevin is behind.
She decides to try the kitchen first. That door is close. He's not there. She's starting to feel dizzy on her feet, so she leans on the wall and slides down to a sitting position.
"Kevin?" she calls out. She can barely hear her own voice. She tries again and this time manages a louder sound. Maybe loud enough for Kevin to hear into one of the rooms. Depends on where he is.
A few moments later he does emerge through a door. She wouldn't have tried that one. She doesn't even know what's behind it. He clearly heard her, though, since he comes out of it looking like he expects to find someone.
"Hey," he says and closes the door behind himself. "How are you feeling?"
"Fantastic. That's why I'm sitting on your corridor floor," she answers, and instantly regrets it. The whisper of pain in her head is making her irritable. She changes her tone and starts again. "Just dizzy. And I feel like I've had the worst headache in my life. Which I did. But I'm okay."
"Ok, let's get you into the kitchen," Kevin says and slowly helps her off the floor. He walks her into the kitchen and sits her by the table.
"What happened at the fountain?" he asks as he sets a cup of coffee in front of her.
"I looked in, and I think I saw the Guardian. And I think it saw me, too," she says. "And then this melody started playing in my head, louder than any sound is possible, and it hurt worse than anything in my life. I think the Guardian may have triggered it."
"The Guardians are supposedly benevolent," Kevin wonders. "It hurting you like that doesn't seem to fit with what little anyone knows about them."
"I don't think it was trying to hurt me," she tells him. "It didn't feel like it was trying to hurt me. And, Kevin? I think I've heard the melody before. It was a strange melody, not something you would hear when playing music. I'm not even sure if it would be possible to play it with any instrument. But a part of me recognised it. I don't know when or how or where I would have heard it, but I'm almost certain that I have."
Kevin looks at her thoughtfully for a while, then nods.
"We'll figure it out. I have no idea what the melody could be, but we'll figure it out," he promises. "But we need to make sure you're feeling okay first."
Then he feeds her more coffee and some marvelous food until she can't eat anymore, and is feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
__________________________________________________
The topic for tomorrow is Cane.
~matleena
Monday, December 16, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 16 - Fountain
"A Guardian?" she demands. "What's a Guardian?"
"I... can't tell you, exactly," Kevin starts, rubbing his eyes before adjusting his glasses. When she gives him a look, he hurries to continue. "Because I don't really know. No one knows."
"What?" she says. She's gesticulating wildly. "How? What?"
"Okay, let me try and explain," he says, motioning with his hands to the side of the room. An armchair slides across the floor to the desk and she sits in it. "There's not a lot of people who make it out of the Garden, as I've told you," he starts. "Most are left wandering in it for the rest of their days, with no idea who they are and what is going on. Some of the ones that do manage to get out are consequently lost in the desert, chasing mirages until they collapse under the heat. Of the tiny portion of people that make it back to civilisation most, like 75% at least, claim that they are now... essentially possessed by an entity or entities."
"I'm sorry, possessed?" she interrupts. "I have a fucking demon or something following me?"
"No, not necessarily a demon, sit down," he says and she drops back down into the chair, crossing her arms with a huff. "In fact almost definitely not a demon. They are almost exclusively benevolent beings. They're called Guardians because that's... what they seem to do? Mostly really mundane things, helping around the house or keeping track of people's belongings or stuff like that. The reason we don't really know what they are, is none of the people being 'possessed' can perceive them. They don't have a physical form, they can't be seen, they can't be touched, they can't be observed in any human way. Frankly I wasn't even sure they existed in the first place, since there's only anecdotal evidence of their existence, but the one thing all accounts of Guardians have in common is that the person gets an inexplicable feeling that something should be right there, that something is there, but it just," he throws his hands in the air, "isn't." He pauses for a moment, rubs his hands together.
"And you think I have one, now?" she prompts. He nods.
"That's exactly what I felt, when you came back," he admits. "I knew, I knew, there should be someone there, that there was a third person there with us when we walked back, but there just wasn't. And I don't know what to do about it. And I don't know why I could feel it."
"You know," she starts after a moment's silence. "I sort of feel that way too." He looks up at her. She looks conflicted. "But... I've felt that way for quite a while now. Longer than a day, for sure."
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"What you described," she says, gesturing vaguely at him. "Like there's someone there when there's not. Or, like, that there should be? I feel that way, sometimes. Have, for several years."
"That... doesn't make sense?" he says with a frown. He is very confused now. Why, how would she have gotten a Guardian several years ago? "Have you been in the Garden before?"
"No, I don't think so," she says. She chuckles lightly, adds, "At least I can't remember that."
He gives her a quick smile before frowning again. He looks away, trying to make any sense of this. His eyes land on the monitor showing the security footage from the store and he stares at it, blankly. Not paying any attention to it, until he is. He blinks, but it's gone.
"Wait," he says and stands up. He turns the monitor so she can see it as well and she looks at it, curiously. "I think I saw something."
In the footage, with a two second delay, video-Kevin turns the monitor around.
"Where is that?" she asks and he points out the camera. Two seconds later video-Kevin points right at them on the monitor.
"For just a split second," he says, squinting at the footage. "I swear there was a third person right there."
They both stare at the monitor for a good 90 seconds.
"I can't see anything," she says, leaning back. "And now my eyes are starting to hurt."
"Maybe..." he says. "I could kind of see it when I wasn't trying to, so maybe..." He closes his eyes for a second, lets them relax. Then he opens them. He doesn't look at the footage. Well, he looks in the direction of it, but he doesn't look at it. He looks through it.
And slowly a third figure starts to take form in the footage beside them. It's standing behind the chair, just by her right side. Then it disappears.
"Curses, I saw it," he says. "But then I tried to see it again and it disappeared."
"But... you saw it?" she asks and he turns back to her. "There's something... something there?"
"Yes there is," he says with a grin. "And I think I might know a way for us to find out what it is."
~x~
He takes her down the hallway, further than they've been before, and opens a door. Behind it is a torchlit room, medium size with nothing but a fountain sitting in the middle of it. It's a tall fountain, the water spewing from the top in an arch and cascading to the basin. Around the basin are statuettes of people holding mirrors.
"This is the Fountain of Truth," he says. "One of the most rare things in this entire store, and there is a lot of things in this store. If you look into it, it will show you back your true form, no matter what glamours or disguise spells you have going on. And, of course, if you look into it with someone else, you'll be able to see their true form as well."
"Wow," she says. He waits for her to way something else, but she seems too captured by the fountain so he continues.
"So, what you want to do, is look in, and maybe, hopefully, your Guardian will look in with you, and you'll be able to see what it really is."
She hums, softly, and makes no effort to move. He waits. "I'm a bit worried," she says, eventually. "What if it's something scary?"
"Would you rather not know if you have something scary attached to you?" he points out.
"No..." she relents. "But still..."
It's fine. Just a little peek.
"Yup, just a little peek, that's all," he says, stepping to the side and leaning against the wall. "Frankly I don't even know if the thing will show up!"
He's smiling, but his smile fades when he sees her face. She's frowning. He is immediately on edge again, but then she smiles and shakes her head.
"Sorry," she says and starts to walk towards the fountain. "I didn't realise I said that out loud."
He gives her another smile, but on the inside he is freaking out.
"So I just... look in?" she's asking as she leans over the side. "No magic words or anything?"
"Nope, just look in. Stare at your reflection for a while."
She does. They're quiet again for a good few minutes.
"Oh!" she exclaims. He perks up. "I think... I think I see someone beside me!"
"Really?" he asks. That's a pleasant surprise. Maybe they'll be able to answer a really big mystery here today!
"Yeah, it's really starting to take shape now," she says. She's squinting into the fountain, at something to her right side. He can't see the water's surface from where he's standing, but doesn't want to get closer, since this thing seems so fickle. "It's definitely a person. A... a woman, I think. She has long red hair. And sad eyes. She's smiling, but she looks sad. I, ngh, I don't understand..."
He pushes himself from the wall. Something's wrong. She's holding her head in her hands, but she's still staring at the surface.
"So fuzzy, but I... I feel like I know her, I-- ahhh!"
And then she staggers back and collapses. He barely manages to catch her before she hits the floor.
"What's going on, what's wrong?" he's repeating and she's clutching her head, her eyes screwed shut. He's dialing Sam's number with one hand, while trying to keep her still with the other. She's thrashing in his hold.
"My head!" she says between groans. "Hurts!"
She screams again and then falls limp in his arms, unconscious.
_____________________________________________________
OOPS.
Look at me, getting back on schedule tho! It's super late over here, but I had some inspiration so what can you do? Next topic is "Melody"
Pie out.
"I... can't tell you, exactly," Kevin starts, rubbing his eyes before adjusting his glasses. When she gives him a look, he hurries to continue. "Because I don't really know. No one knows."
"What?" she says. She's gesticulating wildly. "How? What?"
"Okay, let me try and explain," he says, motioning with his hands to the side of the room. An armchair slides across the floor to the desk and she sits in it. "There's not a lot of people who make it out of the Garden, as I've told you," he starts. "Most are left wandering in it for the rest of their days, with no idea who they are and what is going on. Some of the ones that do manage to get out are consequently lost in the desert, chasing mirages until they collapse under the heat. Of the tiny portion of people that make it back to civilisation most, like 75% at least, claim that they are now... essentially possessed by an entity or entities."
"I'm sorry, possessed?" she interrupts. "I have a fucking demon or something following me?"
"No, not necessarily a demon, sit down," he says and she drops back down into the chair, crossing her arms with a huff. "In fact almost definitely not a demon. They are almost exclusively benevolent beings. They're called Guardians because that's... what they seem to do? Mostly really mundane things, helping around the house or keeping track of people's belongings or stuff like that. The reason we don't really know what they are, is none of the people being 'possessed' can perceive them. They don't have a physical form, they can't be seen, they can't be touched, they can't be observed in any human way. Frankly I wasn't even sure they existed in the first place, since there's only anecdotal evidence of their existence, but the one thing all accounts of Guardians have in common is that the person gets an inexplicable feeling that something should be right there, that something is there, but it just," he throws his hands in the air, "isn't." He pauses for a moment, rubs his hands together.
"And you think I have one, now?" she prompts. He nods.
"That's exactly what I felt, when you came back," he admits. "I knew, I knew, there should be someone there, that there was a third person there with us when we walked back, but there just wasn't. And I don't know what to do about it. And I don't know why I could feel it."
"You know," she starts after a moment's silence. "I sort of feel that way too." He looks up at her. She looks conflicted. "But... I've felt that way for quite a while now. Longer than a day, for sure."
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"What you described," she says, gesturing vaguely at him. "Like there's someone there when there's not. Or, like, that there should be? I feel that way, sometimes. Have, for several years."
"That... doesn't make sense?" he says with a frown. He is very confused now. Why, how would she have gotten a Guardian several years ago? "Have you been in the Garden before?"
"No, I don't think so," she says. She chuckles lightly, adds, "At least I can't remember that."
He gives her a quick smile before frowning again. He looks away, trying to make any sense of this. His eyes land on the monitor showing the security footage from the store and he stares at it, blankly. Not paying any attention to it, until he is. He blinks, but it's gone.
"Wait," he says and stands up. He turns the monitor so she can see it as well and she looks at it, curiously. "I think I saw something."
In the footage, with a two second delay, video-Kevin turns the monitor around.
"Where is that?" she asks and he points out the camera. Two seconds later video-Kevin points right at them on the monitor.
"For just a split second," he says, squinting at the footage. "I swear there was a third person right there."
They both stare at the monitor for a good 90 seconds.
"I can't see anything," she says, leaning back. "And now my eyes are starting to hurt."
"Maybe..." he says. "I could kind of see it when I wasn't trying to, so maybe..." He closes his eyes for a second, lets them relax. Then he opens them. He doesn't look at the footage. Well, he looks in the direction of it, but he doesn't look at it. He looks through it.
And slowly a third figure starts to take form in the footage beside them. It's standing behind the chair, just by her right side. Then it disappears.
"Curses, I saw it," he says. "But then I tried to see it again and it disappeared."
"But... you saw it?" she asks and he turns back to her. "There's something... something there?"
"Yes there is," he says with a grin. "And I think I might know a way for us to find out what it is."
~x~
He takes her down the hallway, further than they've been before, and opens a door. Behind it is a torchlit room, medium size with nothing but a fountain sitting in the middle of it. It's a tall fountain, the water spewing from the top in an arch and cascading to the basin. Around the basin are statuettes of people holding mirrors.
"This is the Fountain of Truth," he says. "One of the most rare things in this entire store, and there is a lot of things in this store. If you look into it, it will show you back your true form, no matter what glamours or disguise spells you have going on. And, of course, if you look into it with someone else, you'll be able to see their true form as well."
"Wow," she says. He waits for her to way something else, but she seems too captured by the fountain so he continues.
"So, what you want to do, is look in, and maybe, hopefully, your Guardian will look in with you, and you'll be able to see what it really is."
She hums, softly, and makes no effort to move. He waits. "I'm a bit worried," she says, eventually. "What if it's something scary?"
"Would you rather not know if you have something scary attached to you?" he points out.
"No..." she relents. "But still..."
It's fine. Just a little peek.
"Yup, just a little peek, that's all," he says, stepping to the side and leaning against the wall. "Frankly I don't even know if the thing will show up!"
He's smiling, but his smile fades when he sees her face. She's frowning. He is immediately on edge again, but then she smiles and shakes her head.
"Sorry," she says and starts to walk towards the fountain. "I didn't realise I said that out loud."
He gives her another smile, but on the inside he is freaking out.
"So I just... look in?" she's asking as she leans over the side. "No magic words or anything?"
"Nope, just look in. Stare at your reflection for a while."
She does. They're quiet again for a good few minutes.
"Oh!" she exclaims. He perks up. "I think... I think I see someone beside me!"
"Really?" he asks. That's a pleasant surprise. Maybe they'll be able to answer a really big mystery here today!
"Yeah, it's really starting to take shape now," she says. She's squinting into the fountain, at something to her right side. He can't see the water's surface from where he's standing, but doesn't want to get closer, since this thing seems so fickle. "It's definitely a person. A... a woman, I think. She has long red hair. And sad eyes. She's smiling, but she looks sad. I, ngh, I don't understand..."
He pushes himself from the wall. Something's wrong. She's holding her head in her hands, but she's still staring at the surface.
"So fuzzy, but I... I feel like I know her, I-- ahhh!"
And then she staggers back and collapses. He barely manages to catch her before she hits the floor.
"What's going on, what's wrong?" he's repeating and she's clutching her head, her eyes screwed shut. He's dialing Sam's number with one hand, while trying to keep her still with the other. She's thrashing in his hold.
"My head!" she says between groans. "Hurts!"
She screams again and then falls limp in his arms, unconscious.
_____________________________________________________
OOPS.
Look at me, getting back on schedule tho! It's super late over here, but I had some inspiration so what can you do? Next topic is "Melody"
Pie out.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 15 - Guardian
Kevin ushers her through the door, and closes it quickly behind him. He's seemed nervous the whole way, glancing around like he thought someone was following them. She wondered if she should be worried, but she decided not to be. Maybe Kevin is a naturally nervous person. She doesn't know. And even if something is wrong, there's nothing she can do about it, since she doesn't remember anything from before she came out of the Garden an hour earlier. So she decided to do what both the notes she had written for herself and Kevin tell her: Kevin is your friend. Trust him with your life.
And then, suddenly, her arms are full of a person. The person hugs her tight, and then, before she manages to respond, pulls back to look at her. This was... Sam? Kevin told her about a Sam. They take a good long look at her, then turn to Kevin.
"This is the stupidest thing you've ever done," they tell him.
Kevin seems to snap out of the thoughts he was lost in.
"Yes, you've told me that. Multiple times. Thank you," he says. "But it's done now. You can stop telling me."
"I will never stop telling you," they say. He grins.
"What if I do something even more stupid?" he asks innocently.
"For the sake of all of us, I hope you never will," they say seriously. "I think that would be bad for not only the people close to you, but also the human race in general."
Kevin's grin fades.
"I'm so happy you're alright," they tell her, ignoring him for the moment. "Actually, well, we can't yet tell if you're fine. We need to get your memories back into you. I know you've had a long day, but the longer they're in the box, the more likely something is to go wrong with them."
Right, her memories. They are keeping them safe for her. From the Garden. Because it was very important for her to go into the Garden. That's what her notes say. She guesses she's about to find out.
"Kevin!" Sam says, and startling him out of his thoughts again. She notices. "What's wrong?"
But he shakes it off with a quick "later".
The two of them lead her to down a hall, into a room, and sit her down. Sam moves her memories from a box back into her head. And suddenly she remembers everything again. Wait. no. Not everything. There's a big gap in her memories. And then it all makes sense. Why they had to take her memories. Why she had to go into the Garden. Sam is right, it has been a long day (it's still the same day, right?), and it's been a very, very confusing day. But now that she remembers everything again, she knows she would choose the same thing, even knowing what she knows now.
She takes a moment to feel around her head. Figure out how she's feeling. If she feels like herself again. She comes to the conclusion that yes, she does feel like herself. She feels okay. Dead tired, but okay. The other two are looking at her expectantly.
"I'm fine," she tells them. "I think. I mean, I don't notice anything wrong."
Sam does a rapid but thorough examination and also deems her fit for duty. They send her home to get some sleep. She goes, after hugely thanking Sam for keeping her memories safe.
She wakes up. It's still dark, but that doesn't mean much this time of the year. It might be in the middle of the night, or it might be later than she usually wakes up. She could check the time, but instead she doesn't move. She doesn't feel like sleeping anymore, so she simply lays in her bed, in the dark, running through yesterday's events. What little she remembers of them. The time between Sam taking her memories and coming out of the Garden is practically gone from her mind.
And then, suddenly, she realizes what Kevin's behavior on the way back meant. She didn't know what to think about it when she didn't have her memories and didn't know Kevin, but now she knows.
Something went wrong. Or at least Kevin thinks something went wrong.
She pushes off her covers and rolls out of bed. Less than an hour later, the bell on the door of Kevin's shop makes a familiar ring. He looks up from whatever he is doing and smiles.
"Good morning!" he greets her. "How are you feeling today?"
But she ignores his question and simply marches up to him.
"What went wrong?" she asks. Kevin looks at her, confused. "On the way back, you were nervous and paranoid, and looking around like someone was following us. And then you kept being distracted by something after we got through the door. So what went wrong?"
For a moment he looks like he's not going to answer, but she stares him down with a stern look. He sighs.
"I think while you were in the Garden, you may have picked up a Guardian."
____________________________________________________
Soooo. I hope this isn't too late. I also hope that soon we'll get back to the morning schedule, because it's better. I have two more travel days at the end of next week. Maybe we would have the time in the next week to get a bit ahead, so I won't be writing my parts late again then.
The topic for tomorrow is Fountain.
~matleena
And then, suddenly, her arms are full of a person. The person hugs her tight, and then, before she manages to respond, pulls back to look at her. This was... Sam? Kevin told her about a Sam. They take a good long look at her, then turn to Kevin.
"This is the stupidest thing you've ever done," they tell him.
Kevin seems to snap out of the thoughts he was lost in.
"Yes, you've told me that. Multiple times. Thank you," he says. "But it's done now. You can stop telling me."
"I will never stop telling you," they say. He grins.
"What if I do something even more stupid?" he asks innocently.
"For the sake of all of us, I hope you never will," they say seriously. "I think that would be bad for not only the people close to you, but also the human race in general."
Kevin's grin fades.
"I'm so happy you're alright," they tell her, ignoring him for the moment. "Actually, well, we can't yet tell if you're fine. We need to get your memories back into you. I know you've had a long day, but the longer they're in the box, the more likely something is to go wrong with them."
Right, her memories. They are keeping them safe for her. From the Garden. Because it was very important for her to go into the Garden. That's what her notes say. She guesses she's about to find out.
"Kevin!" Sam says, and startling him out of his thoughts again. She notices. "What's wrong?"
But he shakes it off with a quick "later".
The two of them lead her to down a hall, into a room, and sit her down. Sam moves her memories from a box back into her head. And suddenly she remembers everything again. Wait. no. Not everything. There's a big gap in her memories. And then it all makes sense. Why they had to take her memories. Why she had to go into the Garden. Sam is right, it has been a long day (it's still the same day, right?), and it's been a very, very confusing day. But now that she remembers everything again, she knows she would choose the same thing, even knowing what she knows now.
She takes a moment to feel around her head. Figure out how she's feeling. If she feels like herself again. She comes to the conclusion that yes, she does feel like herself. She feels okay. Dead tired, but okay. The other two are looking at her expectantly.
"I'm fine," she tells them. "I think. I mean, I don't notice anything wrong."
Sam does a rapid but thorough examination and also deems her fit for duty. They send her home to get some sleep. She goes, after hugely thanking Sam for keeping her memories safe.
~x~
She wakes up. It's still dark, but that doesn't mean much this time of the year. It might be in the middle of the night, or it might be later than she usually wakes up. She could check the time, but instead she doesn't move. She doesn't feel like sleeping anymore, so she simply lays in her bed, in the dark, running through yesterday's events. What little she remembers of them. The time between Sam taking her memories and coming out of the Garden is practically gone from her mind.
And then, suddenly, she realizes what Kevin's behavior on the way back meant. She didn't know what to think about it when she didn't have her memories and didn't know Kevin, but now she knows.
Something went wrong. Or at least Kevin thinks something went wrong.
She pushes off her covers and rolls out of bed. Less than an hour later, the bell on the door of Kevin's shop makes a familiar ring. He looks up from whatever he is doing and smiles.
"Good morning!" he greets her. "How are you feeling today?"
But she ignores his question and simply marches up to him.
"What went wrong?" she asks. Kevin looks at her, confused. "On the way back, you were nervous and paranoid, and looking around like someone was following us. And then you kept being distracted by something after we got through the door. So what went wrong?"
For a moment he looks like he's not going to answer, but she stares him down with a stern look. He sighs.
"I think while you were in the Garden, you may have picked up a Guardian."
____________________________________________________
Soooo. I hope this isn't too late. I also hope that soon we'll get back to the morning schedule, because it's better. I have two more travel days at the end of next week. Maybe we would have the time in the next week to get a bit ahead, so I won't be writing my parts late again then.
The topic for tomorrow is Fountain.
~matleena
Saturday, December 14, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 14 - Something
He watches her passage through the Garden on the pad. He's doing his best to keep his breathing calm, and a few times he has to consciously stop himself from tearing apart whatever item he has in his hands at the time, be it his waterskin, or the book he pretended he would be able to read, or even the pad itself. He gets up a few times during his wait, too restless to sit in the shade, and walks around the oasis. It's not a big area, so he's back to his place very quickly.
It is agonizing. He can see her walk, and she's making progress most of the time, but sometimes she starts looping back around, clearly dazed and uncertain why she's there. And he can't do anything to help her. Frankly it's a miracle that he even has visual on her inside, but he is very good at what he does.
When the orange tree finally shifts into view he can feel his heart jump into his throat. He holds his breath. She stares at it for a moment, not doing anything, but then she picks one. Two. Three. She stands still for a moment. Sits down. He's chewing on his thumb. Read the notes, he thinks at her.
Eventually she notices the bag around her neck and finds the compass. And then she's coming back."
~x~
Slowly the doors open and she steps out. She blinks, shields her eyes from the sun, looks around. She spots him as he scrambles up from the shade.
"You're out!" he exclaims. His face feels like splitting underneath the smile on his face. "Oh thank everything, you're out!"
"What is happening," she says bluntly. She looks around again. "How is a garden in the middle of a desert? And who are you?" She pokes a finger at his chest as he gets over to her. He raises his hands in appeasement.
"I'm Kevin," he says. She squints, and then nods. "I'm your friend. We came here together, because you needed oranges."
"I do have oranges with me," she says and digs one out from her bag. "Here, look. They're golden for some reason?" She seems very amused about the fact. "They're not orange at all, they're gold! See!" She lifts it up to his face.
"Yes, they are," he says, placing a gentle hand on her arm. "That's why we came here. To get Golden Oranges."
"I think..." she starts and then pauses to think. "I think my notes said something about that."
"Yes, they did. Now, why don't you come over here," he nudges her to follow him, which she does very easily. He does not like that. "And sit down in the shade for a bit. You can have some water, read your notes. Reorient yourself a bit." He guides her to the chair and almost pushes her down. She drops down and then blinks twice, slowly.
"Right, have to follow the notes," she says, and pulls the papers from her bag. "Because I don't remember anything!" She laughs a bit. He doesn't find it particularly amusing, but he gives her a small smile.
"That's the Golden Garden for ya!" he says. "Just rest for a bit, and then we'll get going back home."
He leans on one of the palm trees as she sits and reads. He takes out his phone and shoots Sam a quick text to let them know they have the oranges and they'll be coming back in a bit. Sam texts back almost immediately, expressing their relief very briefly, before going back to berating him of how stupid the idea was to begin with. He rolls his eyes and puts the phone on silent, ignoring the rest of the barrage. He looks back over to her.
She looks contemplative. She's rereading the notes, and she is clearly much more serious now. Which is good. It means memories are sticking again. He lets out a small sigh and turns to go fill out their waterskins for the trip back.
Something moves in his peripheral vision.
He glances around, but there's nothing there. He could've sworn he saw a figure by the shade, right beside her, but there's nothing there. Of course. He takes a deep breath and rubs his eyes. The desert is starting to play tricks on him as well. The quicker they get away from this place, the better.
Still, he can't quite shake the feeling...
He gets the second waterskin from her and goes over to the small watering place to fill them. And it happens again. As he dunks one of the skins underwater, in the ripples he can barely make out a shape behind him. He spins around again. Nothing, again. She's looking at him with a confused frown and he just waves a hand at her. He turns back around, wondering if he's going mad.
From the clear surface of the water only he himself looks back up.
~x~
The trip back through the desert is less eventful than their trip here. Neither of them really say anything. He's too preoccupied with what he saw back at the Garden's entrance, and she doesn't remember anything, and he can only imagine how awkward that must feel. He has his compass back and he's recalibrated it to point back at his door, so they can follow it without much hassle.
She asks questions occasionally, like where exactly they are and where they're going and how do they know each other, and he answers them truthfully if briefly. He feels a bit bad for her, she's trying to make contact but he just can't shake the feeling that there is another presence with them.
Well, no, that's not entirely accurate. There is absolutely no other presence with them. Absolutely nothing. He feels like there should be. And he feels like there is, even though he can't actually feel it in any capacity. But what is something that would be so completely imperceivable? It is not like the residents of this realm, because while he can't physically see or touch them, when they passed through their village, he could sense they were there. Even right now he knows there are moles underneath the ground they walk on, even though, if they were to burrow their way to the surface, he wouldn't be able to see them.
But something that is there even if he can't perceive it? Or perhaps something that should be there but is not?
His mind is getting fuzzy.
He shakes his head to clear it. This is getting him nowhere. Then he glances back. His mouth opens slightly.
There's a third set of tracks in the sand. It's there and then it's not and then it is again.
His heartbeat is hammering in his ears and he quickly turns to stare straight ahead again. He is sure of it now. There is something with them.
Or perhaps someone.
_____________________________________________________
Sooooo I like might have ideas about some stuff :3c
Anyway, here's today's part. It didn't come out in the morning bc we had pikkujoulu yesterday and I had 0 time to write and today I had to focus first on my school assignments. But I finished those and now I finished this and it's only almost nine? So yay!
My next part (16th) will probably (almost definitely) not be out in the morning either, bc I'm gonna be off playing D&D tomorrow and will not have time to write, but I will have a few hours time to do that Monday, so it'll just be out sometime in the evening. After that I'll be in Kuopio and I'll have a bunch of time, so I'll try to get back to writing the day before! I've just been... SO FUCJIJMNG busy this week like holy hell I'm tired.
Next topic!! is!!!!! Guardian!!!!!!!!! Bye!!!!
Pie out.
It is agonizing. He can see her walk, and she's making progress most of the time, but sometimes she starts looping back around, clearly dazed and uncertain why she's there. And he can't do anything to help her. Frankly it's a miracle that he even has visual on her inside, but he is very good at what he does.
When the orange tree finally shifts into view he can feel his heart jump into his throat. He holds his breath. She stares at it for a moment, not doing anything, but then she picks one. Two. Three. She stands still for a moment. Sits down. He's chewing on his thumb. Read the notes, he thinks at her.
Eventually she notices the bag around her neck and finds the compass. And then she's coming back."
~x~
Slowly the doors open and she steps out. She blinks, shields her eyes from the sun, looks around. She spots him as he scrambles up from the shade.
"You're out!" he exclaims. His face feels like splitting underneath the smile on his face. "Oh thank everything, you're out!"
"What is happening," she says bluntly. She looks around again. "How is a garden in the middle of a desert? And who are you?" She pokes a finger at his chest as he gets over to her. He raises his hands in appeasement.
"I'm Kevin," he says. She squints, and then nods. "I'm your friend. We came here together, because you needed oranges."
"I do have oranges with me," she says and digs one out from her bag. "Here, look. They're golden for some reason?" She seems very amused about the fact. "They're not orange at all, they're gold! See!" She lifts it up to his face.
"Yes, they are," he says, placing a gentle hand on her arm. "That's why we came here. To get Golden Oranges."
"I think..." she starts and then pauses to think. "I think my notes said something about that."
"Yes, they did. Now, why don't you come over here," he nudges her to follow him, which she does very easily. He does not like that. "And sit down in the shade for a bit. You can have some water, read your notes. Reorient yourself a bit." He guides her to the chair and almost pushes her down. She drops down and then blinks twice, slowly.
"Right, have to follow the notes," she says, and pulls the papers from her bag. "Because I don't remember anything!" She laughs a bit. He doesn't find it particularly amusing, but he gives her a small smile.
"That's the Golden Garden for ya!" he says. "Just rest for a bit, and then we'll get going back home."
He leans on one of the palm trees as she sits and reads. He takes out his phone and shoots Sam a quick text to let them know they have the oranges and they'll be coming back in a bit. Sam texts back almost immediately, expressing their relief very briefly, before going back to berating him of how stupid the idea was to begin with. He rolls his eyes and puts the phone on silent, ignoring the rest of the barrage. He looks back over to her.
She looks contemplative. She's rereading the notes, and she is clearly much more serious now. Which is good. It means memories are sticking again. He lets out a small sigh and turns to go fill out their waterskins for the trip back.
Something moves in his peripheral vision.
He glances around, but there's nothing there. He could've sworn he saw a figure by the shade, right beside her, but there's nothing there. Of course. He takes a deep breath and rubs his eyes. The desert is starting to play tricks on him as well. The quicker they get away from this place, the better.
Still, he can't quite shake the feeling...
He gets the second waterskin from her and goes over to the small watering place to fill them. And it happens again. As he dunks one of the skins underwater, in the ripples he can barely make out a shape behind him. He spins around again. Nothing, again. She's looking at him with a confused frown and he just waves a hand at her. He turns back around, wondering if he's going mad.
From the clear surface of the water only he himself looks back up.
~x~
The trip back through the desert is less eventful than their trip here. Neither of them really say anything. He's too preoccupied with what he saw back at the Garden's entrance, and she doesn't remember anything, and he can only imagine how awkward that must feel. He has his compass back and he's recalibrated it to point back at his door, so they can follow it without much hassle.
She asks questions occasionally, like where exactly they are and where they're going and how do they know each other, and he answers them truthfully if briefly. He feels a bit bad for her, she's trying to make contact but he just can't shake the feeling that there is another presence with them.
Well, no, that's not entirely accurate. There is absolutely no other presence with them. Absolutely nothing. He feels like there should be. And he feels like there is, even though he can't actually feel it in any capacity. But what is something that would be so completely imperceivable? It is not like the residents of this realm, because while he can't physically see or touch them, when they passed through their village, he could sense they were there. Even right now he knows there are moles underneath the ground they walk on, even though, if they were to burrow their way to the surface, he wouldn't be able to see them.
But something that is there even if he can't perceive it? Or perhaps something that should be there but is not?
His mind is getting fuzzy.
He shakes his head to clear it. This is getting him nowhere. Then he glances back. His mouth opens slightly.
There's a third set of tracks in the sand. It's there and then it's not and then it is again.
His heartbeat is hammering in his ears and he quickly turns to stare straight ahead again. He is sure of it now. There is something with them.
Or perhaps someone.
_____________________________________________________
Sooooo I like might have ideas about some stuff :3c
Anyway, here's today's part. It didn't come out in the morning bc we had pikkujoulu yesterday and I had 0 time to write and today I had to focus first on my school assignments. But I finished those and now I finished this and it's only almost nine? So yay!
My next part (16th) will probably (almost definitely) not be out in the morning either, bc I'm gonna be off playing D&D tomorrow and will not have time to write, but I will have a few hours time to do that Monday, so it'll just be out sometime in the evening. After that I'll be in Kuopio and I'll have a bunch of time, so I'll try to get back to writing the day before! I've just been... SO FUCJIJMNG busy this week like holy hell I'm tired.
Next topic!! is!!!!! Guardian!!!!!!!!! Bye!!!!
Pie out.
Friday, December 13, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 13 - Sugar
She steps into the Garden, then stops. Looks back at Kevin. He smiles to her encouragingly, and then is suddenly gone. The gates have closed behind her. She's alone now.
She takes a deep breath, and focuses on how she's feeling. Good. She's feeling good. Not great, considering she can't remember farther back than a few hours, but she's not feeling the effects of the Garden yet. Probably. Would she know if she forgot something? Or would the memory just disappear, without so much as a trace of its existence? She guesses the second. So she needs to focus on something in particular, keep checking if it's there. If she remembers the thing, then things are maybe ok. If she doesn't remember what it was she was supposed to remember, then... maybe that's the first memory to go, and she remembers everything else.
Enough standing around. You need to get going. There might be few memories you have to lose by staying longer than you need to, but they're kinda relevant to getting out.
She sets out briskly walking through the gold and touches the small bag hanging around her neck. The bag contains her instructions, for when she forgets. Because she has so few memories, Kevin thinks forgetting most of it is more likely than not. So she has a paper, that will keep telling her what's important.
She's hungry. She has no idea when she's eaten last. She's walking through a garden but nothing here seems edible. She digs through her pack and finds packets of sugar and water. Sugar? Why is there sugar in the pack? That doesn't seem like a good food. But she empties a couple of packets, and it makes her feel a little bit better.
She checks the rest if her pockets. There's a small bag around her neck, with some papers inside. She unfolds the papers.
You're in a Garden that takes memories, the paper informs her. She realizes she didn't remember that, or how she got there. She does remember she needs to find an orange, and she thinks she's heading in the right direction. I know it's all very confusing, depending on how much you've forgotten, but the task you have taken on is simple: find the Orange Tree, and bring back an Orange. No one is making you do it. You want to do it. You need to do it, to remember again. The compass in the small top pocket in your bag will show you the way out, back to friends, once you have the Orange.
Ok. She remembers enough. She remembers the feeling of urgency. She remembers she needs to find the Oranges. That's all that matters right now.
She looks at the map she finds in her backpack, reorients herself, and keeps walking. There's no other way. She's two thirds of the way there.
She's standing under an orange tree. The Orange Tree, something in her remembers. This is an important tree, and she needs to pick the oranges. And... Take them somewhere. She knows it's important, but she can't quite find the reason for that in her mind. But if it's important she picks some Oranges, then she'll pick some Oranges.
One.
Two.
How many?
Three.
Maybe it was three. Three seems like a good number.
But now what? She needs to take them to someone. Why can't she remember?
This place is weird. It's making her uncomfortable. The Garden. Everything is golden. She wants to leave, but she's not sure how. She remembers knowing, but she doesn't anymore. She sits down, has some water from her pack. She finds some papers in a bag around her neck.
The compass in the small top pocket in your bag will show you the way out, back to friends, once you have the Orange.
She finds the compass exactly where the note says it should be. It's pointing to the direction she came from. She stands up and starts walking, despite the fact that her feet are already hurting.
__________________________
Oh, I'm tired. The good thing about the time difference is that even if you're getting your thing out 16 hours late, I'll still be awake for hours, almost to the next deadline, so I can write my part on time anyway. But I have to say, not an enjoyable thing to do. Especially since I spent three of the six-ish hours I have between you getting yours written and me going to sleep walking in a forest looking for animals in the dark.
Anyway. Here it is. On time. Not very good, or very long, but on time.
The topic for tomorrow is Something.
(No, I didn't use that as a placeholder and forget to put the real topic in its place. The topic actually is Something.)
~matleena
She takes a deep breath, and focuses on how she's feeling. Good. She's feeling good. Not great, considering she can't remember farther back than a few hours, but she's not feeling the effects of the Garden yet. Probably. Would she know if she forgot something? Or would the memory just disappear, without so much as a trace of its existence? She guesses the second. So she needs to focus on something in particular, keep checking if it's there. If she remembers the thing, then things are maybe ok. If she doesn't remember what it was she was supposed to remember, then... maybe that's the first memory to go, and she remembers everything else.
Enough standing around. You need to get going. There might be few memories you have to lose by staying longer than you need to, but they're kinda relevant to getting out.
She sets out briskly walking through the gold and touches the small bag hanging around her neck. The bag contains her instructions, for when she forgets. Because she has so few memories, Kevin thinks forgetting most of it is more likely than not. So she has a paper, that will keep telling her what's important.
~x~
She's hungry. She has no idea when she's eaten last. She's walking through a garden but nothing here seems edible. She digs through her pack and finds packets of sugar and water. Sugar? Why is there sugar in the pack? That doesn't seem like a good food. But she empties a couple of packets, and it makes her feel a little bit better.
She checks the rest if her pockets. There's a small bag around her neck, with some papers inside. She unfolds the papers.
You're in a Garden that takes memories, the paper informs her. She realizes she didn't remember that, or how she got there. She does remember she needs to find an orange, and she thinks she's heading in the right direction. I know it's all very confusing, depending on how much you've forgotten, but the task you have taken on is simple: find the Orange Tree, and bring back an Orange. No one is making you do it. You want to do it. You need to do it, to remember again. The compass in the small top pocket in your bag will show you the way out, back to friends, once you have the Orange.
Ok. She remembers enough. She remembers the feeling of urgency. She remembers she needs to find the Oranges. That's all that matters right now.
She looks at the map she finds in her backpack, reorients herself, and keeps walking. There's no other way. She's two thirds of the way there.
~x~
She's standing under an orange tree. The Orange Tree, something in her remembers. This is an important tree, and she needs to pick the oranges. And... Take them somewhere. She knows it's important, but she can't quite find the reason for that in her mind. But if it's important she picks some Oranges, then she'll pick some Oranges.
One.
Two.
How many?
Three.
Maybe it was three. Three seems like a good number.
But now what? She needs to take them to someone. Why can't she remember?
This place is weird. It's making her uncomfortable. The Garden. Everything is golden. She wants to leave, but she's not sure how. She remembers knowing, but she doesn't anymore. She sits down, has some water from her pack. She finds some papers in a bag around her neck.
The compass in the small top pocket in your bag will show you the way out, back to friends, once you have the Orange.
She finds the compass exactly where the note says it should be. It's pointing to the direction she came from. She stands up and starts walking, despite the fact that her feet are already hurting.
__________________________
Oh, I'm tired. The good thing about the time difference is that even if you're getting your thing out 16 hours late, I'll still be awake for hours, almost to the next deadline, so I can write my part on time anyway. But I have to say, not an enjoyable thing to do. Especially since I spent three of the six-ish hours I have between you getting yours written and me going to sleep walking in a forest looking for animals in the dark.
Anyway. Here it is. On time. Not very good, or very long, but on time.
The topic for tomorrow is Something.
(No, I didn't use that as a placeholder and forget to put the real topic in its place. The topic actually is Something.)
~matleena
Thursday, December 12, 2019
The Trouble with time, Part 12 - Brainstorm
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," he mutters, slapping away their hand and rolling his eyes. "You just focus on keeping the shop upright while we're gone, alright?" They glare at him, but he ignores it, turning to her. "You ready to go?" he asks.
"I guess," she says. She's staring at the door pretty intently. "Let's get going."
He reaches down and takes a hold of the door handle. He pauses dramatically, and flashes the other two a grin. Then he pushes open the door. She gasps.
Beyond the door opens up a small village, tiny wooden houses with narrow cobble roads serpentining between them, a lush forest streching out around it. Everything is vibrantly colored and there are giant mushrooms glowing on and around the houses.
"What is this place?" she asks, stepping through into the village.
"Bye Sam," says Kevin with a wave. They huff as the door is closed on their face. Then he turns to aswer her question. "This is the Realm of Dreams. The home of the Sandman and his folk."
"Oh, that's a real person?" she asks, turning to look at him.
"More of a title," he says, adjusting the bag of equipment he has on his back. "Like a king or such. Sometimes it's Sandwoman, and once it was Sandbunny." She snorts out a laugh. "Anyway, we just need to get through the village and continue through the woods that way," he points, "and then walk across a desert for an hour, hour and a half. Then we'll be at the Golden Garden."
"So the Garden is like an oasis?" she asks, as the two start walking down the road. He nods. She glances around. "Why is there no one in the village? Is it abandoned?"
"No, you just can't see the Dream Folk if you don't have Dream Sand in your eye," he says, stepping over a knee high mushroom growing in the middle of the path. Her eyes widen. "Don't worry, you can't step on them accidentally. For them you aren't real, just as to you they aren't real. It's like a separate plane they exist on."
"Oh," she says, glances around again. "Do you have any Dream Sand with you? I'd like to see them."
"No, and we wouldn't have time either way. They'd throw a slumber party if they knew they had visitors, and their slumber parties include like 48 hours of sleeping."
"That sounds nice," she says, more to herself than to him.
"You can come back once we finish our mission," he says, and keeps moving forward.
~x~
About 20 minutes of walking later, the deep green starts to give way to a more bright yellow peeking from between the trees, and soon the two emerge out of the woods at the edge of a desert. Kevin checks his watch and then looks up to the sky. The sun is slowly making its way to Zenith.
"Okay, if we keep a steady pace, we should make it to the Garden before Zenith," he says, taking his bag from his back and rummaging through it. He pulls out two scarves. "Here," he says, handing one to her. "Wrap this around your head." She takes it and he starts wrapping the other around his own head and neck, leaving only his face covered. "And if a sandstorm kicks up, you do this," he pulls the scarf over his mouth to demonstrate," so you don't breathe in the sand. Trust me, you do not want to breathe in the sand."
While she wraps her own scarf, he pulls out two waterskins and a compass from the bag before hoisting it back on. Then they are off.
It becomes very quickly very apparent why the scarves are necessary. Only 15 minutes in, he can see from his peripheral that she is sweating quite a bit, trying to keep the moisture away from her eyes by rubbing a sleeve across her forehead every few minutes. They manage to keep a steady course and a steady pace, though the sun is hot and pressuring on their backs.
Imagine the tan you could get!
"Sadly, that's not an actual sun," he says, taking a sip from his water. "It's magic, and a very special kind of magic at that, which means there's no easy way to make us more comfortable, but also that it emits no UV radiation. And no UV, no tan."
He keeps walking for a few meters, before he realises she's fallen behind. He stops, turns around. He's about to ask her why she stopped when he sees her face.
She looks horrified. Her eyes are blown wide open and her mouth is trying to work around something to say, but she isn't saying anything.
"What's wrong?" he asks, a tight twisting at the bottom of his stomach.
"Why did you say that?" she says.
"What?"
"Why did you say that?!" Her horror is turning into fury before his very eyes.
"You... you said--!" he starts, he has no idea what is going on, but she interrupts.
"No, I didn't say! I thought about getting a tan, but I did not say it!"
A distant rumbling and a strong gust of wind. He looks past her and pales.
"You need to calm down right now," he says, looking back at her, hir arms raised, palms open, reaching out to her.
"Why did you know what I was thinking about?" she shouts. "Did you put some kind of mindreading thing into my head when you took out my memories, huh? So you'd know if I suspect you of something??"
"Absolutely not, please, you need to calm down!"
"Don't tell me to calm down, explain yourself!"
"I can't, I-- Look!"
He grabs a hold of her shoulders and spins her around. Behind her a giant swirling mass of clouds towers above them in the sky, rumbling loudly, lightning flashing inside it. Except they're not clouds.
"That's a Brainstorm," he says. He's still holding onto her upper arms and she is very, very still. "This desert plays with things you want, it creates mirages of your wildest dreams and makes you chase them and get lost for forever. Which means it can, as you say, read minds. And when your thoughts are raging in your head, well..."
He rounds her, so he's standing between her and the storm. "Look at me," he says, barely loud enough to be heard over the thunder. She glances at him, but is having trouble tearing her eyes off the storm. "It's okay. You don't know anything about what's going on, and you're worried and you're suspicious. That's fine. But you need to calm down. I'll do my best to answer any and all questions you have, but first you need to calm down."
Deep breaths. It's fine, you're fine. Deep breaths
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath. Holds it in. Blows it out slowly. Does it again, and a third time. All the while the storm gets smaller and smaller and quieter and quieter until there's but a whisp of a cloud in the sky. She opens her eyes again, gives him a small smile.
"Sorry," she says. "It just really freaked me out when you could read my mind."
"It kinda freaked me out too," he admits, running a hand through his hair as he breathes out a sigh of relief. "I don't know why that happened. Or how." They are quiet for a moment, contemplating. He looks out over the vast expanse of sand. "I guess there was some kind of weird glitch. The desert does read your mind, after all, maybe I just accidentally recieved a part of that read. It's never happened before, but then again, I don't think I've ever been here with another person before."
She hums, noncommittal. He glances at her, but she's looking away already.
"In any case, we should keep moving," he says and pulls out the compass to check the direction. "We need to make it to the Garden by Zenith."
~x~
45 minutes later something starts to materialize in the distance. Another 10 and it's clearly visible. 15 more and they can clearly make out a few trees and a big golden gate.
"I'm just glad this one wasn't another mirage," she mutters as they reach the gate. There's a small green area in front of it, a small watering place and some shrubbery, a few palm trees. A pretty standard desert oasis. But then there's the gate.
It's three meters tall and made of golden bars and beyond it, as far as the eye can see, is gold. Plants of every size and shape and they're all shades of golden and they're just there. Right behind the gate. From the either side of which a tall, thick wall stretches out.
"This is it," he says.
"Wow," she says.
"It's a lot grander when you're actually inside, in the midst of it," he says as she walks over to the gate and runs a finger along one of the bars. He takes off his backpack and puts it down. "I'll set up camp here, monitor your progress. Here," he tosses her a gopro, which she catches without looking. Muscle memory doesn't seem to be affected, he notes as he pulls out a monitor, a travel chair and a tarp.
"How do I get in?" she asks, strapping the camera onto her forehead.
"Just open it," he says, waving a hand in her general direction. He sets up the tarp to give himself some shade and then plops down the chair under it. "It's not locked or anything. You can just walk in."
"Oh," she says and tugs on the gate. Sure enough, it pulls open easily. "I thought there'd be some kind of... security."
"The Garden is it's own security," he says, sitting down as comfortably as he can. He pokes at the screen which springs to life, showing him himself, as she turns to look at him. "This is the only way in or out of the Garden, and it is very easy to get lost in there. And if anyone manages to get out of it with some semblence of self intact, the desert usually gets them at that point."
"That's rough," she says, walking over to him.
"Yep, but that's why you have me," he says and hands her the compass. "That'll point towards this spot, so once you have the oranges, follow the arrow back." She nods and walks back to the gate. She stops in front of it for a moment, and takes a deep breath. "And feel free to grab other interesting looking things while you're at it!" he calls after her.
She gives him a backwards wave and steps in.
_____________________________________________________
Hey hey, this is the latest I've been with a post in like 3 years or sth! But at least it's (almost) on the right day (sorry again orz). But on the more positive side, I think this turned out pretty good! We're really getting into it now, bois!
Also I'm starting to feel like a better name for the story would be something about memories, not time lol Next topic is Sugar, bye~
Pie out.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
The Troube with Time, Part 11 - Caterpillar
She opens her eyes and blinks, looks around. There are two people sitting opposite to her, looking at her expectantly. She just stares at them blankly.
"How are you feeling?" one of them asks. They both look worried.
"I..." she begins. How does she feel? "I feel ok, I think."
"What do you remember?" the other one asks.
She starts to answer, then stops. Starts again.
"Uh," she manages.
"If I did everything right, you shouldn't remember anything that happened before this moment," the second one says.
A shiver of fear and confusion runs through her. These people took all her memories? She tries to find something in her head, any indication of who she is, who these people are. She can't find any. Nothing. She doesn't remember anything.
"What have you done to me?" her voice is nearly a hiss.
"Here," one of them hands her a note.
She looks at the note, but doesn't take it.
"It's an explanation of what's going on," he says.
She takes the note, weary. She has no idea what's going on. She doesn't trust these people. She shouldn't believe anything they say.
"She does recognise her own handwriting, doesn't she?" the one who handed her the note asks the other one. The other one nods.
"She should. Like the Garden, the magic I used only took her episodic memory."
They're right. She looks at the note and she can tell it's her own handwriting. She doesn't remember ever seeing the handwriting before, but she knows it by heart. Every loop, every angle.
You can trust these two, with your life if it comes to that. Their names are Kevin and Sam.
She looks up at the two people across the table. Now that she thinks about it, she knew Kevin's name. She doesn't remember him, but if someone had asked she would have said his name is Kevin.
They have taken your, my, memories, because you need to do something that would risk you losing them. Sam is holding them safe for you, until you can have done what needs to be done.
I know you have a hard time believing me right now, I am you, after all, but you need to believe me. You have to go to the Golden Garden, find a Golden Orange, and bring it back. Kevin will give you more specific instructions, and will help you get into the Garden. The Garden takes people's memories. That's why you can't go in there with them. You would permanently lose yourself. This way, after you come back, you will get your memories back. I promise. It's temporary. You do this, and you'll once again know who you are. I need you to do it. It's my only hope. It's our only hope.
She thinks about this for a moment. For whatever reason she needs to go find this Orange, it must be incredibly important. She wouldn't have had all her memories erased otherwise. She wouldn't have let them do it. But, she thinks then, maybe they forced her to write the note, and then erased her memory. Maybe they threatened to kill her, or someone close to her if she didn't write the note. Maybe she can't trust them.
She tries to think back. Remember. Anything. Whether she can trust these people. They seem worried about her, but that could just be an act. But she doesn't remember. She doesn't remember anything.
She's starting to panic, but instead she turns her attention back to the note in her hand. There's some more instructions, some more assuring her that this is all vitally important, that the version of her who knows who she is wouldn't have done it if there was any other way. Sam and Kevin patiently wait for her to read through the instructions she has left for herself.
She's suspicious of it all, until she reaches the very end. There, at the bottom corner of the page, is a small drawing of the caterpillar. She doesn't remember seeing it ever before, but she knows it's significant to her. She knows that it's the last plea for her to trust the version of her that remembers, and to trust the two strangers looking at her expectantly.
And it convinces her. She doesn't remember anything, but she trusts herself when she says it's all going to be ok, and all she has to do is to get the Orange, and then she'll get her memories back.
"Okay," she says, turning to Kevin and Sam. "I trust the me who wrote this note. Tell me what to do. I want my memories back as soon as possible."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I had to do this. I didn't want to take your memories. You insisted. I promise you, I'll keep them safe and give them back to you as soon as you return," Sam assures her.
"So you're ready?" Kevin asks. She nods. "Okay, let's get going then, so we can get this over with."
________________________________
I don't even know.
Also, my computer finally decided that functioning is too much effort, so apparently I'll be writing the rest of these on the phone, and I hate it.
Just for the record, I don't know how we're this far in the story already. This to me seems like part 20, not like part 11. But at least we'll for once have the time to finish without rushing?
The topic for tomorrow is Brainstorm.
~matleena
"How are you feeling?" one of them asks. They both look worried.
"I..." she begins. How does she feel? "I feel ok, I think."
"What do you remember?" the other one asks.
She starts to answer, then stops. Starts again.
"Uh," she manages.
"If I did everything right, you shouldn't remember anything that happened before this moment," the second one says.
A shiver of fear and confusion runs through her. These people took all her memories? She tries to find something in her head, any indication of who she is, who these people are. She can't find any. Nothing. She doesn't remember anything.
"What have you done to me?" her voice is nearly a hiss.
"Here," one of them hands her a note.
She looks at the note, but doesn't take it.
"It's an explanation of what's going on," he says.
She takes the note, weary. She has no idea what's going on. She doesn't trust these people. She shouldn't believe anything they say.
"She does recognise her own handwriting, doesn't she?" the one who handed her the note asks the other one. The other one nods.
"She should. Like the Garden, the magic I used only took her episodic memory."
They're right. She looks at the note and she can tell it's her own handwriting. She doesn't remember ever seeing the handwriting before, but she knows it by heart. Every loop, every angle.
You can trust these two, with your life if it comes to that. Their names are Kevin and Sam.
She looks up at the two people across the table. Now that she thinks about it, she knew Kevin's name. She doesn't remember him, but if someone had asked she would have said his name is Kevin.
They have taken your, my, memories, because you need to do something that would risk you losing them. Sam is holding them safe for you, until you can have done what needs to be done.
I know you have a hard time believing me right now, I am you, after all, but you need to believe me. You have to go to the Golden Garden, find a Golden Orange, and bring it back. Kevin will give you more specific instructions, and will help you get into the Garden. The Garden takes people's memories. That's why you can't go in there with them. You would permanently lose yourself. This way, after you come back, you will get your memories back. I promise. It's temporary. You do this, and you'll once again know who you are. I need you to do it. It's my only hope. It's our only hope.
She thinks about this for a moment. For whatever reason she needs to go find this Orange, it must be incredibly important. She wouldn't have had all her memories erased otherwise. She wouldn't have let them do it. But, she thinks then, maybe they forced her to write the note, and then erased her memory. Maybe they threatened to kill her, or someone close to her if she didn't write the note. Maybe she can't trust them.
She tries to think back. Remember. Anything. Whether she can trust these people. They seem worried about her, but that could just be an act. But she doesn't remember. She doesn't remember anything.
She's starting to panic, but instead she turns her attention back to the note in her hand. There's some more instructions, some more assuring her that this is all vitally important, that the version of her who knows who she is wouldn't have done it if there was any other way. Sam and Kevin patiently wait for her to read through the instructions she has left for herself.
She's suspicious of it all, until she reaches the very end. There, at the bottom corner of the page, is a small drawing of the caterpillar. She doesn't remember seeing it ever before, but she knows it's significant to her. She knows that it's the last plea for her to trust the version of her that remembers, and to trust the two strangers looking at her expectantly.
And it convinces her. She doesn't remember anything, but she trusts herself when she says it's all going to be ok, and all she has to do is to get the Orange, and then she'll get her memories back.
"Okay," she says, turning to Kevin and Sam. "I trust the me who wrote this note. Tell me what to do. I want my memories back as soon as possible."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I had to do this. I didn't want to take your memories. You insisted. I promise you, I'll keep them safe and give them back to you as soon as you return," Sam assures her.
"So you're ready?" Kevin asks. She nods. "Okay, let's get going then, so we can get this over with."
________________________________
I don't even know.
Also, my computer finally decided that functioning is too much effort, so apparently I'll be writing the rest of these on the phone, and I hate it.
Just for the record, I don't know how we're this far in the story already. This to me seems like part 20, not like part 11. But at least we'll for once have the time to finish without rushing?
The topic for tomorrow is Brainstorm.
~matleena
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 10 - Pier
"Thought I'd find you here."
Sam steps through the door, the linoleum tiles of the Corridor changing into wet sand. At the end of the long pier Kevin doesn't look back, just keeps staring up at the sky, the countless stars twinkling in the deep dark. He sits with his legs dangling over the edge, just slightly above the waves.
"You said you wanted to talk," Sam continues, as they start to walk down the pier towards him. "And then the shop sign said closed and you weren't on the showroom floor. What on Earth is going on?"
"I don't know what to do," he says, though he still doesn't look down.
"This is about your Acquirer again, isn't it?" they say. They pull off their boots, before plopping down to sit next to him.
"She needs First Love," he says. "I don't have any."
"I'm sorry, but I don't either..."
"No, I figured. It's hard to acquire, I know." He pauses then, looks down at his hands. "But there was a customer in today, said he has two bottles."
"Two? That is impressive. Who is it?"
"A Frenchman by the name of Jean-Claude Leroy. I've not met him before, apparently he frequents Misha's store."
Sam hums, runs a finger along their lips. "Name sounds familiar," they say, "but I don't think I've met him personally." A heartbeat passes between the two. "What could he possibly need that Misha doesn't have? No offense, but your inventory is smaller."
"He needs a Golden Fruit."
They blink, jaw slightly ajar. He's turned his gaze back to the sky.
"Oh," the syllable drops from their mouth, hangs in the air. The waves continue to lap at the beach behind them. "And nobody else--"
"I called around," he answers, not even needing to hear the question. "Nobody currently has First Love in their inventory. Not Misha, not Raja, not even Laleh, nobody. And with her deadline in a few weeks Leroy is our only chance."
"I--" They stop to think, worrying their lip between their teeth, before finally sighing. "It does seem that way."
"She already says she'll do it, after I explained what the Golden Garden does to a human," he sighs. "Selfless to a fault that one. But I was wondering if you knew of any ways to slow down the effects, or anything?"
They stare at him for a moment, frowning. "This is very out of character for you," they say.
"What?" he says, and finally looks directly at Sam. Their mouth is drawn in a thin line, their eyes serious.
"I've known you for nearly 20 years now," they start as he stares. "And I've never seen you so personally invested in anything. Why her?"
He sighs, deeply. "I just... I have a feeling," he says, and is rewarded a pointed look and a raised eyebrow. "Okay, here's the thing. She's started working for me almost 9 years ago, but something happened during the last few year. I didn't see her nearly as much as before, and for the entirety of last year she just completely disappeared. Then soon after last New Year's she just wanders into the store. Total amnesia. She can't recall basically anything, and only from the past three years, including her new name. All she has is a note, hastily scribbled, with a spell on it. Since then we've been working to first decipher the spell and then gather up the ingredients. The note also set a time limit of a year, which is why we're running out of time."
"What is her name, anyway?" Sam asks then. Kevin opens his mouth but finds that nothing comes out.
"I... don't know," he says as the realisation sets in. "I know she changed it two years ago, but... I have no idea what it is."
"Huh," they say. "What about the spell? What's it do?"
"No idea, the note didn't say," he says, though his mind is now reeling. How does he not know her name? He knows her deadname, but not her real one? Why? How? What else does he not know of her? He is majorly freaking out, but only on the inside. "I didn't recognise it either, but we gathered it would help her figure out what happened to her. Most of the ingredients are very personal."
"Well, either way, I don't think I can really do anything," they says after a while, as they stand up and dust off the back of their trousers. "I don't know much about the Garden or the kind of magic it produces, so I can't exactly make any kind of antidote or anything." They chuckle. "Not unless you want me to preemptively erase your memories."
Kevin looks up. Sam pales.
"Kevin, no," they say, horrified.
~x~
"I'm sorry, you want to do what exactly?"
"We're gonna take all your memories, and put them into a box," Kevin says with a huge grin. She glances between him and Sam, who looks very tired. "And then when you go into the Garden, you'll have no memories to lose! It's brilliant, I don't know why nobody's thought of it before!"
"Because it's not brilliant, it's stupid and risky!" Sam says. "It includes tearing your memories from your mind, memories that are intricately linked to your personality and storing them in a box. And then, and then once you return you have to put those memories back and hope that if your mind doesn't implode, you're still the same fucking person!"
"I have full faith in your capabilities to perform this surgery," he tells them cheerily. They groan and throw their hands in the air.
"Have you done something like this before?" she asks and they turn to look at her.
"I have," they say, only slightly hesitant. "A few times. It doesn't always go without a hitch, and you will almost definitely be a changed person afterwards."
"I'll be a changed person either way," she says. She looks down, plays with the red ribbon tied around her wrist. Then she looks back up. "Do it," she says. "That way, at least, I'll have a chance to retain myself."
"Alright," they sigh. "But I will not take responsibility for the potential downfall."
"I understand," she says. "Let me write down instructions for myself, and then you can start."
_____________________________________________________
This... took so much longer than I wanted it to and I didn't even want to end there, I wanted to write a bit more, Kevin was gonna go with her but hhhhhhhh it's late and I need to go to bed.
Next topic is Caterpillar, bye now~
Pie out.
Sam steps through the door, the linoleum tiles of the Corridor changing into wet sand. At the end of the long pier Kevin doesn't look back, just keeps staring up at the sky, the countless stars twinkling in the deep dark. He sits with his legs dangling over the edge, just slightly above the waves.
"You said you wanted to talk," Sam continues, as they start to walk down the pier towards him. "And then the shop sign said closed and you weren't on the showroom floor. What on Earth is going on?"
"I don't know what to do," he says, though he still doesn't look down.
"This is about your Acquirer again, isn't it?" they say. They pull off their boots, before plopping down to sit next to him.
"She needs First Love," he says. "I don't have any."
"I'm sorry, but I don't either..."
"No, I figured. It's hard to acquire, I know." He pauses then, looks down at his hands. "But there was a customer in today, said he has two bottles."
"Two? That is impressive. Who is it?"
"A Frenchman by the name of Jean-Claude Leroy. I've not met him before, apparently he frequents Misha's store."
Sam hums, runs a finger along their lips. "Name sounds familiar," they say, "but I don't think I've met him personally." A heartbeat passes between the two. "What could he possibly need that Misha doesn't have? No offense, but your inventory is smaller."
"He needs a Golden Fruit."
They blink, jaw slightly ajar. He's turned his gaze back to the sky.
"Oh," the syllable drops from their mouth, hangs in the air. The waves continue to lap at the beach behind them. "And nobody else--"
"I called around," he answers, not even needing to hear the question. "Nobody currently has First Love in their inventory. Not Misha, not Raja, not even Laleh, nobody. And with her deadline in a few weeks Leroy is our only chance."
"I--" They stop to think, worrying their lip between their teeth, before finally sighing. "It does seem that way."
"She already says she'll do it, after I explained what the Golden Garden does to a human," he sighs. "Selfless to a fault that one. But I was wondering if you knew of any ways to slow down the effects, or anything?"
They stare at him for a moment, frowning. "This is very out of character for you," they say.
"What?" he says, and finally looks directly at Sam. Their mouth is drawn in a thin line, their eyes serious.
"I've known you for nearly 20 years now," they start as he stares. "And I've never seen you so personally invested in anything. Why her?"
He sighs, deeply. "I just... I have a feeling," he says, and is rewarded a pointed look and a raised eyebrow. "Okay, here's the thing. She's started working for me almost 9 years ago, but something happened during the last few year. I didn't see her nearly as much as before, and for the entirety of last year she just completely disappeared. Then soon after last New Year's she just wanders into the store. Total amnesia. She can't recall basically anything, and only from the past three years, including her new name. All she has is a note, hastily scribbled, with a spell on it. Since then we've been working to first decipher the spell and then gather up the ingredients. The note also set a time limit of a year, which is why we're running out of time."
"What is her name, anyway?" Sam asks then. Kevin opens his mouth but finds that nothing comes out.
"I... don't know," he says as the realisation sets in. "I know she changed it two years ago, but... I have no idea what it is."
"Huh," they say. "What about the spell? What's it do?"
"No idea, the note didn't say," he says, though his mind is now reeling. How does he not know her name? He knows her deadname, but not her real one? Why? How? What else does he not know of her? He is majorly freaking out, but only on the inside. "I didn't recognise it either, but we gathered it would help her figure out what happened to her. Most of the ingredients are very personal."
"Well, either way, I don't think I can really do anything," they says after a while, as they stand up and dust off the back of their trousers. "I don't know much about the Garden or the kind of magic it produces, so I can't exactly make any kind of antidote or anything." They chuckle. "Not unless you want me to preemptively erase your memories."
Kevin looks up. Sam pales.
"Kevin, no," they say, horrified.
~x~
"I'm sorry, you want to do what exactly?"
"We're gonna take all your memories, and put them into a box," Kevin says with a huge grin. She glances between him and Sam, who looks very tired. "And then when you go into the Garden, you'll have no memories to lose! It's brilliant, I don't know why nobody's thought of it before!"
"Because it's not brilliant, it's stupid and risky!" Sam says. "It includes tearing your memories from your mind, memories that are intricately linked to your personality and storing them in a box. And then, and then once you return you have to put those memories back and hope that if your mind doesn't implode, you're still the same fucking person!"
"I have full faith in your capabilities to perform this surgery," he tells them cheerily. They groan and throw their hands in the air.
"Have you done something like this before?" she asks and they turn to look at her.
"I have," they say, only slightly hesitant. "A few times. It doesn't always go without a hitch, and you will almost definitely be a changed person afterwards."
"I'll be a changed person either way," she says. She looks down, plays with the red ribbon tied around her wrist. Then she looks back up. "Do it," she says. "That way, at least, I'll have a chance to retain myself."
"Alright," they sigh. "But I will not take responsibility for the potential downfall."
"I understand," she says. "Let me write down instructions for myself, and then you can start."
_____________________________________________________
This... took so much longer than I wanted it to and I didn't even want to end there, I wanted to write a bit more, Kevin was gonna go with her but hhhhhhhh it's late and I need to go to bed.
Next topic is Caterpillar, bye now~
Pie out.
Monday, December 9, 2019
The Trouble with Time, Part 9 - Memory
"So what is the golden garden?"
As soon as the Frenchman left, Kevin ushered her to a back room, flipping the open sign to closed.
"The Golden Garden is," he begins, then hesitates, "hard to explain adequately. But here's what you need to know, to decide if you should go: it's an enchanted garden that affects the memory of those who enter there. More precisely, it takes memories from those who enter. The longer you stay, the more you forget. And there's no logic to which memories it targets. It might be you only lose mostly things irrelevant to you, though losing any part of a past will change a person, even if only slightly, but it can also be some of the things that are the most important to the person. And it affects memories specifically: knowing things isn't affected. Someone who enters will still be able to talk, and tie their shoes, and know the capitals of all the countries, if they knew that beforehand, no matter how long they spend in the Garden. They will still recognise their mother as their mother, even if they don't remember anything they've ever done with her. They will still recognise their friends as their friends, recall their names, but not all the times they've spent together."
"But those times are what makes the friends," she says, quietly. "The friends won't feel like friends, will they? They will feel like strangers, just ones you know you used to be close to?"
"Yes," Kevin admits. "Usually, after people leave the garden, they can regain some of the memories, but never all, and never properly. The memories that do come back will be like memories of dreams, not like memories of real life."
"Why does monsieur what's-his-name need the orange?"
"I don't know. But things that grow in the Garden have some special properties, and if they're required as ingredients, normally nothing can replace them. Because getting anything from the garden poses such a hazard to anyone who enters, even simple things have an incredibly high price once they're here."
"Like two bottles of First Love."
"Like two bottles of First Love. But unlike something like a First Love, things in the Garden aren't difficult to get because they're so rare, or because timing is vital, or because only just the thing will do. They're difficult to get because of the cost to whoever goes to get them. Technically, you can simply walk into the Garden, get the orange, and walk out. The problem is you might lose yourself on the way. Hell, you might forget why you're there in the first place, or forget the way you've just walked, and take a long time to get out, if you ever do."
She's quiet for a long time, thinking through what she just heard.
"Where's the tree in the Garden?" she finally asks.
"From where my door leads, it's about half way to the middle of the Garden. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the Garden is huge. It will take you hours to walk, one way."
"How much is hours in that place? Memory-wise? How fast do people lose the memories?"
"A day will visibly change a person. People who have made it out after a couple of weeks remember very little of themselves."
She's quiet again.
"So we need to find a way to minimize the time I'm in there, maybe some way to move around faster," she says. "And a way to make sure I don't forget why I'm there, and how to get out. And I'll need to write down everything important, so that if I do come back remembering nothing, at least I have my past self telling me who I am. Maybe there's a way to make the forgetting slower?"
"I don't know if there is," Kevin hesitates. "But if there is, I think Sam might know. I'll ask them."
"Is there any other way for me to get the First Love?"
"Luck," he answers after a moment of thought. "The only other way for you to get your hands on a First Love is through luck. But you don't need to make the decision right now. Take a night and sleep on it."
She's quiet for a long time after that, weighing her options, weighing the risk of not managing to get the First Love in time to the risk of going into the Garden. She doesn't want to do it. She doesn't want to do any of it. And if she forgets everything, it won't matter if she gets the First Love or not. It will all be for nothing. She knows Kevin would still finish her work anyway, and that means a lot to her, even though at that point it doesn't really matter anymore.
This is a terrible idea.
But it seems to be the least terrible of the ideas she has. She sighs.
"I don't need a night. Nothing will be different tomorrow. I'll do it."
_________________________________________________
The topic for tomorrow is Pier.
~matleena
As soon as the Frenchman left, Kevin ushered her to a back room, flipping the open sign to closed.
"The Golden Garden is," he begins, then hesitates, "hard to explain adequately. But here's what you need to know, to decide if you should go: it's an enchanted garden that affects the memory of those who enter there. More precisely, it takes memories from those who enter. The longer you stay, the more you forget. And there's no logic to which memories it targets. It might be you only lose mostly things irrelevant to you, though losing any part of a past will change a person, even if only slightly, but it can also be some of the things that are the most important to the person. And it affects memories specifically: knowing things isn't affected. Someone who enters will still be able to talk, and tie their shoes, and know the capitals of all the countries, if they knew that beforehand, no matter how long they spend in the Garden. They will still recognise their mother as their mother, even if they don't remember anything they've ever done with her. They will still recognise their friends as their friends, recall their names, but not all the times they've spent together."
"But those times are what makes the friends," she says, quietly. "The friends won't feel like friends, will they? They will feel like strangers, just ones you know you used to be close to?"
"Yes," Kevin admits. "Usually, after people leave the garden, they can regain some of the memories, but never all, and never properly. The memories that do come back will be like memories of dreams, not like memories of real life."
"Why does monsieur what's-his-name need the orange?"
"I don't know. But things that grow in the Garden have some special properties, and if they're required as ingredients, normally nothing can replace them. Because getting anything from the garden poses such a hazard to anyone who enters, even simple things have an incredibly high price once they're here."
"Like two bottles of First Love."
"Like two bottles of First Love. But unlike something like a First Love, things in the Garden aren't difficult to get because they're so rare, or because timing is vital, or because only just the thing will do. They're difficult to get because of the cost to whoever goes to get them. Technically, you can simply walk into the Garden, get the orange, and walk out. The problem is you might lose yourself on the way. Hell, you might forget why you're there in the first place, or forget the way you've just walked, and take a long time to get out, if you ever do."
She's quiet for a long time, thinking through what she just heard.
"Where's the tree in the Garden?" she finally asks.
"From where my door leads, it's about half way to the middle of the Garden. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the Garden is huge. It will take you hours to walk, one way."
"How much is hours in that place? Memory-wise? How fast do people lose the memories?"
"A day will visibly change a person. People who have made it out after a couple of weeks remember very little of themselves."
She's quiet again.
"So we need to find a way to minimize the time I'm in there, maybe some way to move around faster," she says. "And a way to make sure I don't forget why I'm there, and how to get out. And I'll need to write down everything important, so that if I do come back remembering nothing, at least I have my past self telling me who I am. Maybe there's a way to make the forgetting slower?"
"I don't know if there is," Kevin hesitates. "But if there is, I think Sam might know. I'll ask them."
"Is there any other way for me to get the First Love?"
"Luck," he answers after a moment of thought. "The only other way for you to get your hands on a First Love is through luck. But you don't need to make the decision right now. Take a night and sleep on it."
She's quiet for a long time after that, weighing her options, weighing the risk of not managing to get the First Love in time to the risk of going into the Garden. She doesn't want to do it. She doesn't want to do any of it. And if she forgets everything, it won't matter if she gets the First Love or not. It will all be for nothing. She knows Kevin would still finish her work anyway, and that means a lot to her, even though at that point it doesn't really matter anymore.
This is a terrible idea.
But it seems to be the least terrible of the ideas she has. She sighs.
"I don't need a night. Nothing will be different tomorrow. I'll do it."
_________________________________________________
The topic for tomorrow is Pier.
~matleena
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