lifeaftr | Exploration Event: Neverwere

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Exploration Event: Neverwere

EXPLORATION EVENT: NEVERWERE

Who: Everyone!
What: Your wildest dreams come true!
When: May 15th to May 18th
Where: Ziziphus, those still on Ensō...and Mu
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Then Know That My Life Was Just a Killer Dream
You can find most of the information you need in the OOC info post! In the meantime, feel free to use this log as a catch-all for your dream worlds, as well as detailing your efforts to free one another. Whether they're on Ziziphus or Ensō at the time of the dreams' capture, your character is free to access as many dreams as you like, as the interlocking mental landscape allows for that sort of crossing over apropos of nothing. And time, of course, is very fluid in dreams - many days, months, and years can transpire in a matter of mere minutes.

Will you fight your way free from Ziziphus's vines or Mu's thrall, or are you content to die in your sleep?

Remember to let us know if your character dies during this event!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] May 15th: The vines make their move, ensnaring characters in ideal fantasy worlds
[ ♆ ] May 17th: The Storyteller will make contact with those they can, as well as issue information and a potential solution
[ ♆ ] May 18th: Those that have not freed themselves from the vines or from Mu will suffer a death

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[In this world, she didn't need to hear anyone's heart. Everyone said what they wanted-what they needed. No one was hiding grief or unhappiness or anything that would require the assistance of her minor power and it's why his request makes her nervous.

Why does she need to do that? Why would request that?

She wants to say no. Repeats it to herself, again and again and again, even as she nods her yes because denying his request is impossible. For a reason she can't pinpoint. Like she owes him for something-an imaginary debt she can't pinpoint in the years they've grown up together.]

Okay. [Pause] Is it because you're too happy? Did you forget how to smile?

[Seto can see it in her eyes that Ren wants to say no. Ever since he came back home it became a little easier to read her moods, especically since he now knew what she had been hiding. Every moment that she pushed down the fact that she was going to die, from their conversation when he first asked about her medication on the islands, getting so tired after the Water and her reaction to her birthday...now it was so, so easy to see what he missed.

So he doesn't miss it here. And Seto wants to hold her hands and just....he doesn't know. Go play in this wonderful world of Ren and Bliss's making where nothing went wrong, where nobody died and they lived here. A place where everyone was happy. Where Ren could live a full life without her sickness, without wanting to spend the rest of her precious life trying to make Seto's just a little bit better when she passed away. In this place--

Where she was dying anyway.

There was only one moment in Seto's life where the silence got the better of him, where he screamed just to break it. Boundless determination was one thing but he was also a kid. There was only so far he could go with just that. And right now he wants to do that. Just scream and cry and just give into this bright, happy dream. He doesn't blame the Storyteller and their grief and it seems something had gone very wrong with Bliss to make them like this. Sometimes things turned out this way and Seto could no more stop the events that lead up to this then he could stop the accident that eventually erroded away their own world.

All he could do is pull Ren out of this dream before her life withered away.]

...yeah, I think I did.

[He holds out his hands for Ren to take. It....it'll be okay. There's one last story that Seto could tell that may help.

Their story.]

[It breaks her heart to hear that confirmation come out of his mouth caused by some unknown thing she can't pinpoint. Why can't he remember? They've lived here for years, as a family, and there's never been a reason to frown. There's only magic and spicy eggs. Birthdays and warm hugs. Kind smiles and hearts reaching out with their words because it's easy for everyone to do in this place. There's nothing to hide from, no scary thoughts or negative emotions lurking in a person. No physical embodiment of that forming in the air when least expected and-

Why did she think of that, just now? Why would emotions turn into monsters? That's not right.

And so, she slowly grasps his hands, unable to look away from his eyes-to break that contact no matter how much she wants to. Why couldn't they just play in the sand? That's a surefire method of curing any kind of sadness. ]

[Not this kind of sadness, Ren. Not the kind that is soul-deep. Seto takes a deep breath and keeps his own eyes open. It's not a power either of them know exactly how it works, but it'll work for this.

Because it's time for a story. A story where hopefully the memories surfaced are the pictures.

It's the story of a boy. This boy was alone until he was found by an older man and they lived together so they wouldn't be alone. Because to the boy, being alone was an unending hell. A silence that was so loud it rang, rang and rang and screaming did nothing to elevate it. A moment in time that, when the boy later on found himself trapped in a world of water, the silence was more fightening then the bodies of children surrounding him.

But unfortunately the older man was human and humans all die. He passed away in his sleep like so many before him and the boy used his own hands to bury him. And then he found a note and some last hope from the old man. The words that Ren had read in an observatory made from Seto's memories.

Only the time I spent with you gave meaning to my worthless life....

...a red tower...

And so he went on a journey. And beside an old subway enterance, Seto met a girl. A girl who was singing a song about the moon and stars and whatever she wished. A girl who was afraid and ran away. A girl he chased after.

The boy met many people across his journey - and there's a strong, unbearable sting of sorrow as Seto thinks of them. Of his Grandpa, PF, Crow, Chiyo and Sai and that he burried them all.

That one day, he'd be the one too--

....the boy eventually reached the red tower and there was the ghost of a man there. Shin. His name was Shin and he was going to hurt others, those that were left. Ren was scared of him. Very, very scared. And even now, even though Seto could think back to the hate that surrounded the older man, Shin scared him still.

Shiro and Shin. Same yet different.

Then Sai and Shin passed on. Ren and Seto went on their own journey.

And then they came here. To Enso. To a world where ---

A world where they could be happy. But it's not this one.]

C-can you please wake up Ren? It'll be okay out there.

Edited 2018-05-29 01:40 (UTC)

[It hurts.

The world doesn't smell like flowers anymore. There's pungent, horrible odor that makes her nose crinkle and eyes water because-

She's trying to ignore it. The onslaught of heavy, unfamiliar emotions that feel like they're hitting too close to home. But not her home, it can't be her home, because her place is among the cats and flowers and rolling up in blankets at night because that's what she's always done.

Every gut wrenching feeling of loss and despair tears at her, making her want to jerk her hands away and clutch tighter, because she doesn't want him to go through this. Doesn't want that to happen again-

Again?]

I don't-I'm awake, so it's okay. We live with Uncle Taako and Aunt Lup, so we can stay with them.

[Exhaustion starts to creep up on her, in the same way her sickness used to and-

Before she was cured, of a disease she never had? She's always been healthy, she doesn't need to take pills and force them into her mouth outside of the camp every night. Not anymore. It's not like that. She doesn't have to worry about people finding out, because it's-

She starts to cry.]

[Once the sickly sweet odor makes its way into the dream and once Ren starts to cry, it's not hard for Seto to start crying as well.

This, in a way, is what Seto hopes the rest of Ren's life on Enso is like. Peaceful and happy. Hopeful. Living with Taako, Lup and everyone else Ren's made friends with. Without fear of the future. Even if....even if there's no cure for Ren's sickness, that at least would be for the best.

But he has to break it. He has to tear it away from Ren like he tore away the possibility of Shin ending the world a second time.

Maybe, if Seto was a different kind of person, he may have thought this was better. That if Ren was going to die then maybe she should have a nice dream as she passes away. But he wanted Ren to live for as long as she could, free and happy. So...

So he holds on as the memories and feelings pass between the two. Of arriving to the island, meeting Taako and Lup - not living with them from the get-go. The city with so many rules and the sheer fear that escaping from it brought. The silence that came from the still Water.

The fear Seto felt when he woke from his dream and Ren had not. The sorrow.]

T-this is a dream. It's not real Ren. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry.

[It's not real. This happy dream is not real.]

You're dying. I-If you stay....you're dying. So please wake up Ren! I don't want you to die!

[He doesn't want her to die, but-

It won't change anything.

Even as the stink starts to permeate the air and she can no longer smell the flowers that surround her, all she can think is it doesn't matter, for a fuzzy, blurry reason that's impossible to recall-it's on the tip of her tongue, this strong desire to live, even though it should be simple. Wake up, go about your day, and sleep. Why is she worried about-

She doesn't want to die.

Her hands pull back from his, unwilling to continue accepting whatever is fueling those terrible emotions, and she stays completely still, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes. She's got to get out of here. Away from this. She can't deal with this and she needs to go. Just run. Somewhere else. Anywhere else. Away from him, even though she spent so long searching every island for a chance to see him again. The strong desire to leave his side and hide, combined with her own selfish desire to not be alone is-

It keeps her grounded in one spot, fumbling over her words.]

I don't-

[want to die.]

Are you there? If I wake up-will you be there?

[Ren pulls her hands away from his and the expression on her face...well it's probably a good thing that she can't feel what he's feeling right now.

I don't want you to die.

It's selfish and it goes against what his Grandpa has told Seto was inevitable. The older man died, Seto's friends died. He will one day and so will Ren. One day this all will end.

But he doesn't want it to end. If Seto could find a way for Ren to live just a little bit longer, he would take it. Even if it was something like him taking her illness from her into his body, he would.

It's...his Grandpa had a word for it. But Seto can't think of it because he's crying to hard.]

I'll be there Ren. I'll always be with you.

[Until whatever end is given to them both.]

[It doesn't matter that she expected his answer-his words feel like a punch in the gut. He'll always be with her because that's the path they were meant to walk on. He saved her from-

Everything.

From an inescapable fate, from the hands of a scientist that had lost his way, from the confines of the lab she feared too much to be considered a home. He followed her for days and chased her no matter how far she ran.

That's right. He saved her and now she gets to live on an island, just like this manufactured one. The camp residents will keep smiling at her, even when she wakes up. They'll come back every night-they'll share dinner and play games and have late night talks about nothing because-

That's how it is. This dream is just that. It's hard to shake the familiarity of it all and the piece of her that wants to cling to this reality a bit longer is shaken off by the way it starts to fall apart.]

Okay. We'll be together, no matter what. It's okay if it's like that so-

[She's terrified and she reaches out to him again, shutting her eyes as tight as she can because she really doesn't want to see this destroyed. It feels so close to her actual home that it hurts to watch.]

[Seto's just going to pull Ren into a hug.

He hates this. It's not Ren's fault that her mind created this nice place. It's not her fault for making a place where she's healthy and happy. Where everything was like this and not the ruined world all three of them were from.

What Seto hates is the fact that someone made this so they could be happy, strong and the only way to save Ren was to tear her dreams down. He understands what 'Bliss' means. He understands the need to "eat" to survive. He doesn't understand why this has to come at the expense of others.

It was just like the Water and it feels like he's drowning again.

But like when Lup pulled him out of the Water, Seto knows he needs to stand firm and wait for this dream to fade. But this time he can hold onto Ren as the dream crumbles around them.]

No matter what. We can be brave together.

[And once the dream finally crumbles and Ren wakes up, Seto will be climbing down the vines to get her.

Always.]

[Together is a word she can easily find strength in during the worst of times, but coming from Seto's mouth, it's more powerful. Because he understands how hard it is to be alone, knows that we can be brave together is the one of the few ways she can find courage at all.

And even with that surge in her heart, she buries her face in his chest and wraps her arms around his body. She doesn't want to deal with this anymore. This isn't reality-she knows that. But it's close enough to the one she knows from the steady flow of memories that's coming back to her that she doesn't want to see it disappear.

It was always going to vanish and she grips the back of his shirt because she knows reality isn't grounded in this fake island or the one she's going back to-

Reality is having it all vanish before her eyes and she knows it's coming in the future and she can't stand to see smiling faces leave her vision or watch her new home vanish in the blink of an eye.

Even when they're back, she doesn't open her eyes. She's awake, but exhaustion coupled with a selfish desire to just not look is enough to keep her from doing it. The only problem is she can't feel Seto against her anymore and that's terrifying.]

Seto?

[Seto sees her, sees that her eyes are still shut and is worried but Ren speaks and it's okay. But he pinches his cheek, just incase.]

I'm--ow! [A cry that's more of annoyance because he trips on a vine in his hurry to get to Ren's side.] I'm coming! Just stay where you are, okay?

[Seto doesn't have any magic or sharp weapons like the Drifter has. His iron pipe is about it...aside from his memories, but Seto doesn't want to think about that anymore.

He's going to focus and get down there and get those vines off of Ren. As it was with the Drifter, Seto is stubborn when it comes to helping his friends and more so with Ren. But first things first, when he gets close enough he's going to grab Ren's hand.

Just because this is real.]

[His voice shakes her out of whatever fear induced stupor she was in and her eyes crack open when his hand cups hers. It almost-

They're back in reality, because Ren can remember in vivid detail how warm his hand was when he pulled her out of that machine. When he held on as tight as he could, to comfort her while she was shaking off the blindness that experiment caused. Comforting her through it, even though she told herself, over and over, that she didn't need it. She was used to it. He should go after Shin, he should leave and-

He didn't go.

And he's not leaving now.

The vines slide off her easily now, relinquishing their hold now that he's woken her from that spell, and she slowly pushes herself up to meet him, hand clenching his as tight as she can.]

You found me.

[When Ren opens her eyes, she's greeted by Seto's dirty and tear-streaked face but his smile as well. He's always able to smile for her.]

I always will Ren. I promise.

[It may not mean much in a long run. Ren has only so long and Seto knows now that people could disappear from the islands. Even he could die. Someone couldn't have been able to pull him out of his own dream land and he died there. This island gave them a safe place to be but it was also very scary sometimes.

But he's going to focus and help Ren up.]

Can you walk? I can carry you too.

It's okay. I can-I can walk.

[There's a great deal of relief in hearing his words. He'll always be there-she knows that. She held to that fact for months and months, because despite what everyone around her implied, she knew he'd be here. He's like that. He would always find her and she doesn't have to worry about his journey taking him through god created dreams or across humid, dense jungles.

She clasps his hand-his arm-and tries to pull herself up with his help. That exertion is exhausting, even if all she has to concentrate on is the way her legs are shaking under her weight. Horrible. Her eyelids are heavy and all she wants to do is go back to sleep.

She just wants to sleep.

And she recognizes the symptom, knows what that means, but she still has time if she can force her eyes open like this. She leans against him, for a moment, before trying to stand on her own again. It's fine. She's good. Don't worry about her-she's got this.]

Are you okay? Did you get hurt?

[His legs almost buckle under the additional weight but he stays up firmly. Seto was more emotionally exhausted then physically right now - the vines weren't interested in one kid running for his friend when they were dealing with those who wielded magic, weapons and fire. But at the same time he had been going at a mad dash - Seto walked to Tokyo Tower but this felt much longer because he knew

...he knew that if Ren went too long without her medication, she'd be in trouble. And he won't let that happen.]

I'm okay! But Ren, it's okay if you can't walk. I'll carry you.

[He could get her out faster, but Seto also knows not to push. He just wanted to make sure Ren understood she could lean on him.]

[Except it's not okay. The dream is still fresh in her mind, clashing with the reality she knows she's in and here-

Here is where she has to pretend nothing's wrong, again. She has to look in his eyes and act like the only part of that dream that wasn't the same was the physical world around them.

She remembers being carried by him-how she woke up and he was ignoring her. How she had to choke him to get down and why none of that mattered because he focused on everything to save her, when all she wanted was him to speak to her.

She can't take that, right now. The thought of him ignoring her, when all she wants to hear is calming sound of his voice, is enough to keep her on her feet.]

It's okay. I'm just very tired. I'll be okay. We can...We can go home now.

[The thing is...Seto knows why she's refusing to be carried. He knows that he scared her by not listening, by not talking to her. By being scared of Ren's eventual death when not focusing on the fact that she was alive right now.

But right now they both are. And so--]

It's okay Ren. I'll put you down if you ask.

[This time he'll listen to her. He swears.]

But it's also okay if you don't want to. We can go home by walking too.

[The gentle way he's talking to her-it's different than last time. She thought the scene would play out the same as it had originally. That only the scenery would change. Instead of traveling through abandoned buildings, it would be in a forest. Instead of waking up to find herself on his back, she would be awake to avoid that happening again.

It's gentle, is all. Kind, in the way he always is, but not what she expected for the situation. It would be easier to take him up on the offer and she hesitates, listening to the pounding heart in her chest, because she knows walking will slow him down, the way she is now.]

You promise?

[And more importantly-]

If you get tired, we can stop and I'll hide you.

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Exploration Event: Neverwere

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