kingdoms_of_auradon | Let's See What's In The Cards (Mmhm)

The weather was still bitterly cold, and the snow was still thick on the ground, but it was finally possible to at least go outside by the front doors. The King and Queen have still forbidden anyone from staying overnight at the museum district in case it started snowing again. But the King could be seen outside trying to shovel snow enough to make a path to the castle at the least.

The snow was still too thick to get easily anywhere not shoveled, and the snow was so heavy that even beasted out, Ben needed to take constant breaks inside to sit down and dry off. This wasn't going to be a fast task.

It was only made harder when it started. For those who slept, it would start after they have fully awoken for the day. For those who don't sleep, they'd find that they had fallen into a pleasant daydream, even if it wasn't normal for them to do so. When they came out of it, that was when it would start for them.

But what is it, exactly?

Small snippets of memories, playing for anyone who was with the person remembering to see. But the thing was, these memories... were memories the person had not yet made. Memories of the future.

Not enough to give answers, probably not enough to give reassurances for much other than "oh hey, I do have a future after all," but generally pleasant, and short. Hey, it will give people a thing to talk about, at least. Especially since this will go on for the next two weeks or so.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"I'm sorry, you're not honestly telling you actually know Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy? Don't ask why he's not called Goofy Dog, or why he can speak and Pluto can't, please. Those debates rage over the forums all the time, and to avoid a headache I stepped away a while back."

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Sorry Ian, Lea just continued to look puzzled. "Well, yeah, I do," he said. "As a matter for fact, showing up in the nick of time to help them chase off a couple bad guys who were threatening Queen Minnie was how I first got my foot in the door of the whole 'Guardians of Light' thing. Would've mentioned it sooner if I thought you knew them too."

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"Queen... Minnie.... either I am behind on my trivia, which I'm not... or she was a princess in Brave Little Tailor. You aren't telling me they put out a sequel to a cartoon from the 30s..."

From:

hotheadwarmheart

OK, Lea was starting to move past 'puzzled' and into 'mildly annoyed' at what Ian seemed to be implying. "Look, maybe it's just an alternate universe thing, but I don't know anything about any tailors there," he said. "King Mickey rules Disney Castle and the surrounding world. Queen Minnie is his wife and rules beside him, and in fact she's mostly been handling things domestically on her own while the King's been out helping the Guardians. Donald is their court mage, and Goofy is the captain of their royal knights. Donald's girlfriend is Daisey; I pretty much only met her long enough to be introduced, but she seemed nice enough. I even met a version of Donald's sister, Della, in the hub world I was stuck in before this one; she's pretty cool too, and has good taste in movies, if I do say so myself."

"None of them are tailors, characters, or holograms. Got it memorized?"

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"I'm sorry... Donald Duck... was given magic? With that temper? I'm sorry, I have accepted a lot of this, but now I feel like you really are trying to gaslight me." A thoughtful frown. "Come back to my room, I think I have proof I can show you. I had briefly worked on a fan project - in no way shape or form to ever be posted, especially not attached to my name - that has some raw footage. I think I have the project on on hard drive."

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"He wasn't given magic, he learned it," Lea said. It was an important distinction. "And speaking from personal experience, it probably took a lot of work. Though the version of Della I met didn't believe it at first either, so I can't exactly blame you for doubting it when even a version of his own sister did."

"And I'll take a look at the project, but in the meantime ask yourself why I would make something like this up? I mean I wasn't even expecting that flash of memory, or future memory, or whatever it was to happen. Do you really think I came up with an elaborate scheme to mess with you on the spur of the moment like that?"

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"I don't know, but you have to admit it isn't the weirdest option before us."

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"Well, no, but...", he trailed off, deflating a bit as he moved to follow Ian. "It's just... I'm not that kinda guy anymore. Not someone who manipulates and screws with people. And I guess I just figured it'd be more obvious." Maybe Xion wasn't the only one who thought he was lying when he was telling the truth...

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"I mostly don't think you are, if it helps. But the alternative is not something I really want to think about right now," they admitted.

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"Whoa man, then you better hope you don't end up kicking around the multiverse for awhile like I've been," he said. "Because stuff like this is barely move the needle on my weird-ometer at this point. The multiverse can give Wonderland a run for its munny at times."

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"Wonderland... Wonderland is real too, you're saying?"

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"Yep," he said. "Went there a couple times for missions back when I was with the Organization. Heartless aside, it's not too bad, and can actually be pretty entertaining, as long as you steer clear of the Queen. It seems like total chaos at first, but it does have it's own weird logic if you pay attention."

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"Yes, I would imagine staying away from the queen would be important if you want to keep your head but... how did you manage to escape?"

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Lea turned a bit to one side and held out a hand, palm outward. A dark portal formed in the air, swirling black and dark purple. "Dark corridors, like this one," he said. "They're not attached to anything here, but normally they let you travel between worlds by passing through a sort of sub-dimension called Betwixt and Between."

From:

ubuntu_programmer

Not attached to...

The wheels were turning as they went to poke their head into the portal, curious and fascinated.

Maybe this was a bad idea.... >.>

From:

hotheadwarmheart

It was indeed a bad idea. As Lea had said, the portal wasn't connected to anything in this world; aside from the dark of the portal itself, Ian would git only the briefest glimpse of swirling, psychedelic colors before their head poked through the opposite side of the portal and back into the hall. But strange as it was, what it looked like wasn't a problem. What it felt like, however...

Passing through the portal felt like passing through thick, clingy, oily smoke, though somehow with both more and less substance at once. And it was cold, seeming to suck all of the warmth out of their skin wherever it touched, even through hair or clothing. There was even a faint smell to it, hard to identify, but acrid, metallic, and particularly unpleasant to them personally. But more than the unpleasant texture, the cold, or the smell, they would feel Darkness, heavy and oppressive in a way that had nothing to do with physical weight, bearing down on them, twisting, squirming, and reaching, pulling at the darkness in their own heart. Distant, but powerful. Ancient. Primal. Hungry. And the darkness within them responded, trying to find cracks to force its way to the surface, like reaching for like...

Until Lea yanked them back. It had only been a moment, but it would likely have felt significantly longer to them. Lea hastily dismissed the portal, but not before they would see what looked like wispy tendrils of shadow reaching for them. Then the portal was gone. But hints of the cold, the feel of clingy smoke, and traces of the unpleasant smell would linger for a few minutes yet. And less tangible things might linger even longer. "Whoa, hey... you OK there?", Lea asked, clearly concerned and suspecting that the answer was no.

From:

ubuntu_programmer

"That... was fascinating. I should make notes before the sensations fade," they said, hands shaking more than their voice. They were trying to keep it together, to cling to science. It was helping, but they were still clearly shaking. "Also note to self, if From Software ever dips into VR, maybe stay out of it..."

They rubbed their wrist absently, shaking and shaken.

From:

hotheadwarmheart

The concern didn't vanish from Lea's expression, but as Ian seemed to be handling a brush with Darkness about as well as could be expected, he calmed down a bit. He kept a steadying hand on their shoulder though. "Yeah probably a good idea," he said. He didn't know exactly what kinds of things From Software made, but under the circumstances, her could guess.

"Didn't realize you were going to do that or I'd have warned you not to touch. Darkness is not something you want to mess with unless you know what you're doing and have protective gear on. It's not super great even with those caveats, but the Organization didn't have a ton of options."