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kingdoms_of_auradonOpen/locked?: Open...?
Who: Nita and you!
What: Someone is doubting reality, and is being flighty (literally) as a result. This is going as well as you'd expect.
Warnings: an unwell mind, a sense of urgency... possibly some destruction of property, depending on how things go. Not anticipating violence towards other persons at this time, but if that does change all actions will only go as far as the rules/thread partners allow.
Oh, look, a wizard! A rather plain-clothed wizard, holding a book and with an odd watch sort of thing on her wrist.
... What is she doing?
Well, on some of the more elevated parts of the campus, she is climbing, using a spell that solidifies air. But no matter where she tries, she cannot get higher off the ground than anyone else has. (Side note: she does also try having a word with gravity to lessen its pull on her, but this only achieves the same result, with fewer steps and greater energy drain.)
Or she may be using the Mason's Word, trying to walk through walls (successfully) or sink into the earth (... less so), anything to try and get out.
She hasn't bothered talking to the barrier, but anyone listening will hear her whispering something, in a language they can barely make out.
She speaks with increasing desperation, with tears in her eyes - even anger, some of the time.
She does not look in a mood for conversation, in other words. But perhaps the others here think she needs one?
Who: Nita and you!
What: Someone is doubting reality, and is being flighty (literally) as a result. This is going as well as you'd expect.
Warnings: an unwell mind, a sense of urgency... possibly some destruction of property, depending on how things go. Not anticipating violence towards other persons at this time, but if that does change all actions will only go as far as the rules/thread partners allow.
Oh, look, a wizard! A rather plain-clothed wizard, holding a book and with an odd watch sort of thing on her wrist.
... What is she doing?
Well, on some of the more elevated parts of the campus, she is climbing, using a spell that solidifies air. But no matter where she tries, she cannot get higher off the ground than anyone else has. (Side note: she does also try having a word with gravity to lessen its pull on her, but this only achieves the same result, with fewer steps and greater energy drain.)
Or she may be using the Mason's Word, trying to walk through walls (successfully) or sink into the earth (... less so), anything to try and get out.
She hasn't bothered talking to the barrier, but anyone listening will hear her whispering something, in a language they can barely make out.
She speaks with increasing desperation, with tears in her eyes - even anger, some of the time.
She does not look in a mood for conversation, in other words. But perhaps the others here think she needs one?
no subject
Date: 2023-04-12 03:11 am (UTC)"Nita?", he called out in surprise, hurrying over to her. "When did you get here?"
no subject
Date: 2023-04-12 12:02 pm (UTC)If she was looking at him, she didn't exactly look like she was seeing him. More like she'd recognized a mirage.
"So it's a void storm and a reality storm in one, /we're really going two-for-two here.../"
Her shoulders slumped. "It's all gone, isn't it? I can't get home because there is no home anymore, /I don't know if I've even got real wizardry anymore.../ Just one last piece left remaining in the void, shrinking?"
Yeah, she was definitely not all there. Sorry, Lea!
no subject
Date: 2023-04-12 09:27 pm (UTC)"It's not any kind of a storm," he assured her. "This place is real, and so am I. Poke me or something if you don't believe me." Should he touch her in this state? This was different than Xion's issues, and while he wanted to comfort her he wasn't sure if that was the best option at the moment.
"Look I get this is probably a shock, given that it sounds like you got pulled here right from the Void without the Ministry's help. But well, a lot of stuff happened after the train lost your tether, and the situation at the end wasn't how you probably remember it. But the long and short of it is, no more worlds are being eaten, and if you being absent from your world messed things up there, there may be a way to fix that too. But before I try and get you caught up, I need you to try and focus, alright? Just take a deep breath, and focus on me. Important thing is you're here, and I'm here, and it's gonna be OK."
Funnily enough she CAN get a timeslide the normal way if she gets home, she just can't get there now
Date: 2023-04-12 10:19 pm (UTC)But she wasn't running away, wasn't looking to fight... and she was still listening.
/The comm is dead, wizardry is gone, I can't hear him anymore, and I can't leave./
She sighed, glancing away from Lea again, almost not even noticing the book at her side.
/What makes the difference between having to leave whole worlds to die and being able to save them, huh? What could make the void stop in its tracks?/
Yeah but Lea doesn't know that so the Ministry's way is what he'd think of. X3
Date: 2023-04-12 10:47 pm (UTC)"We're not in the Void, or worlds connected to it any more," Lea said. "This is a whole separate magical kidnapping. I actually made up an info sheet that covers a lot of the basics, but that's not gonna help much if you think this is all some sort of illusion."
Making a decision, he stepped forward to rest a hand on her shoulder, hoping the sensation would help ground her. "Whatever else though, your powers- with a few exceptions like flying and teleporting- shouldn't be affected. Especially since your manual came with you, assuming that's what that book is?" It didn't really look like what he thought of as a book of magic, but different world, different style he supposed.
True enough! Surprised there weren't many conversations about that sort of thing in the final logs.
Date: 2023-04-12 11:41 pm (UTC)/Isn't the void connected to all worlds?/
She'd been thinking of the Between and the void as parallel planes of interconnection, by this point.
She squeezed the book, but did not move it.
/What power formed this world? Does anyone know?/
These questions were a good sign, since it meant she was thinking at least semi-logically... but probably frustrating!
no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 02:31 am (UTC)The other question though, just left him confused. "What power? You mean like gods or cosmic forces or whatever? The answer you got there'd probably depends on you you ask, but if I had to guess, some combination of magic and scientific forces. Though I doubt anybody here knows for sure, even the locals; kinda hard to keep records of the beginning of your world, after all."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 11:41 am (UTC)/Then how do you know it won't, can't happen again? That it was understood enough to be fixed completely/
The Powers question she could - and did - visibly shrug off, but not this.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 10:36 pm (UTC)More positive emotions were slower to return - relief that lives were saved, of course, and that at least a few were offered a choice to return home at last, if that was what they wanted.
In the end, Nita's expression settled into a defeated look.
"/Why does it still feel/ dead...?" she sighed, curling away from Lea once more. He may guess what 'it' referred to, he may not.
But she made herself look back at him.
"We're all dismissed with no further responsibilities, huh?"
no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 10:59 pm (UTC)"And yeah, no further responsibilities. Well to the train, at least." He then gave a slight, awkward smile. "Look, I... don't have any soup this time, but I can do a sandwich and cup of tea at least, if you're willing to come to the kitchens with me. It'll probly help you feel a little steadier, and we can work on getting you caught up in the meantime."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 11:32 pm (UTC)"You... don't remember?"
She pointed at her head. /The link,/ she explained.
/And not the tether, either./
At least she wasn't walking off on him, but nor did she seem ready to let this drop.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-14 12:18 am (UTC)"Either way my guess as to 'why it's not working' still stands. I mean, you were yanked from the Void into another dimension by a pair of superpowered magic spells clashing. Who knows how things like that might be affected? We're still not sure why people can't teleport or fly properly here, after all. And given how weird magic can get even when it's done right, I half expect people to start turning up naked or with their hair turned into cheese or something."
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Date: 2023-04-14 12:51 am (UTC)/I said 'it', not you,/ she replied, a more natural stance settling her shoulders.
/You remember Enna and Minako, don't you? When we first had those memories and shared them... the last one the three of us saw was about Enrara, and Thistea. I know we talked about it./
Nita scowled, but it was more out of puzzlement instead of anger, which was better.
/I tried digging. Do we know if there are tunnels? This whole place could be encased in a shield like a bubble, funneling us in and keeping us here. Like a ship in a bottle.../
The theory sounded viable, though the remark about cheese left Nita wondering if the place was simply another Aeon - it sure sounded like Nautilus' sense of humor, if those sorts of things started happening.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-14 01:41 am (UTC)He shook his head at her questions though. "Nah what's blocking us in here is way more mundane stuff," he said. "And we've been making headway clearing a path into the surrounding area, heading for the coast; I can show you later. And no tunnels; we thought of that already. The castle has a wine cellar, at least, but its only secret passages are above ground, and don't lead out of the area we can already get to."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-14 11:57 am (UTC)/It's harder to empathize with something over your own pain, when you can't feel it feeling that pain alongside you./
Or just to make time for it, but that was a little too complex for her to articulate at the moment. Add in there being so many people that most just didn't keep track of each other... fortunately, there's a subject change.
"It's not responsive to digging? What kind of material is it?"
Nita was better with plants than rocks, but earth should still be earth; even magical materials should have had some degree of responsiveness, unless it was a straight-up stasis spell instead of a shield...
"I think I'd like to see those tunnels, either way."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-15 12:21 am (UTC)He was equally glad of the subject change to more immediate and mundane issues though. He shrugged when asked about the materials. "Wrecked cars, fallen trees, inconveniently placed fences, trash cans, decorative planters, shop signs... Really if there's a thing in your average city that could get in your way if all the people suddenly vanished, that thing has probably been in our way," he said. "That's why digging isn't an option; it's not one big obstacle we have to get past, it's a lot of smaller ones. We'd probably make more headway if we just smashed our way though, but all this stuff belongs to people, and when we do eventually get them back they're probably going to want their stuff back as intact as possible, you know? So it's relatively low and steady wins the race."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-15 12:31 am (UTC)"And it's magically resistant...?"
If there was some central location to bring things to, that would be one thing... but it was easy to imagine there not being much space to spare to begin with.
"If it's not, I could at least help re-root trees."
But she was low on energy, as her stomach took a pointed moment to remind her; she made a wry face.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-15 09:49 pm (UTC)At her stomach growling, he gave a bit of a wry smile. "Before you try any reverse-lumberjacking, how about that sandwich and tea? I'll get you an info sheet on the way to the kitchen that mostly covers the basics of the situation here, and we can work on getting you caught up from there."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-15 10:23 pm (UTC)"We'll have to see about that, then," she concluded.
This time, she looked ready to follow him to the kitchen.
"And... would you catch me up on the rest of what I missed? Like, how many people went home when it was over."
If he'd heard any further from her own sister Dairine, that sort of thing. She hadn't really gotten to meet the Ministry when they were actively uncooperative either, come to think of it, so she had no real ingrained standard for how well they handled things.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-17 04:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-17 12:15 pm (UTC)"If everyone scattered to the four winds, not sure who would have exact numbers," Nita concluded.
Except maybe the Voidtrecker Express itself, and who knew what it thought about that?
"But... okay, I know one of the last missions - Crysodale... Crysohale IV, that was it. Did we ever find out if there was more to it?"
She also remembered being there in the month of Jelly, now, but not for how long.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-17 09:48 pm (UTC)He thought back, trying to place the name of the world, and failing. "Hmm... what mission was that again? I remember them a lot better by what happened than by the name of the world."
Assuming they're walking to the kitchen as they talk...
Date: 2023-04-17 10:10 pm (UTC)Because that was either a recipe for orderliness or never being able to find the right paperwork in time, if it was based out of as many worlds as Nita could (faintly) recall being involved.
"I mostly just remember it as the biodome. There were four districts, and some sort of corruption was making things more organic than they were designed to be... or at least making an illusion that it was."
Hopefully that counted as enough for a summary.
Yep they are. :3
Date: 2023-04-17 11:15 pm (UTC)"Oh yeah, that space station type place, where each section was a different 'season'? Yeah that turned out to be the work of that Chaos entity I mentioned. One of our first run ins with it, though we didn't know it at the time. It had a thing for illusions, though I dunno how illusory you can call something when it hits like the real thing..."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-17 11:24 pm (UTC)It wasn't right to call wizardry an industry - people shifted in and out of positions too frequently for most things to be considered entrenched in that way - but for Nita's part, she wanted a better picture of how far the Ministry maintained its standards, let alone enforced them.
Nita nodded, glad at least they shared some of the same pages when it came to the train's timeline.
"Seemings made solid? There's all kinds of ways to achieve that sort of thing - what else did it get up to after I left, then? Where did its powers come from, originally?"
Now that she was more coherent, she could probably retain the answer better.
Also after getting food, that too.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-18 12:01 am (UTC)He nodded at Nita's phrasing. "Seemings made solid is a good way of putting it. Zexion- and maybe Ienzo too- back home specialized in that kind of magic, though good as he is, he couldn't hold a candle to what this Chaos entity could do."
"The entity itself... as I understand it, it was an amalgamation of bits of the minds of a world full of beings that got wiped out by the World Eaters that somehow got caught up in the Void and melded together into this, half-crazed, amorphous.... thing. And what it was trying to do, in the end, was recreate the world it had lost. The problem was, it tended to wreck what was already there in one form or another, so it would cause disasters wherever it went, and didn't seem to much care about the damage it was causing trying to accomplish its goals. It was ready to kill off whole populations to free up worlds for it to rework the way it wanted."
"And almost did, twice. Once through war, and once be luring the places population out of the relative safety of an enclosed city with its illusions to suffocate in a poisonous atmosphere. The latter was where we first encountered it face to face, so to speak, and found out that it was behind the other two incidents that prompted the previous couple missions."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-18 12:18 am (UTC)Nita waved a hand equivocally, trying to find the words.
"It's... what are the standards for care when it comes to people who've watched their planet die, let alone were part of why it happened?"
The timeloop/paradox is one of the few things about this she thought she grasped.
"Let alone voidcraft..."
Shaking her head, she went back to the second subject, wincing as Lea went on describing it.
"What world? ... Would it have been destroyed if System 1015 hadn't been destroyed, or did it seem more like it was an unconnected event?"
From the sound of it, it hadn't cared in the slightest about coexisting with other kinds of Life... which suggested to her it hadn't learned other kinds of life could exist before its world was destroyed.
Easier to not have empathy, to not seek a less destructive way, when there was no reason it seemed like an option. When it seemed like there weren't other people to talk to, reason with.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-18 03:13 am (UTC)"I dunno if it would have been destroyed or even exactly when it happened, though it was definitely the World Eaters that did it. And the world was called Diagad. I know because the entity made a fake copy of it in some kind of pocket dimension, pulled a bunch of us and a bunch of random other people in there and altered our memories to believe it was real and that we'd always lived there. But I guess even it had its limits, cause the illusion started to break down after a few days. At the end, there wasn't much left, and most of us were all more preoccupied with evacuating ourselves and others while there was still something to evacuate from, and trying to avoid being killed by the random monsters and stuff that it summoned up to try and stop us."
"As I understand it someone managed to... talk it down, kinda. I'm honestly not sure we'd have all made it out alive if they hadn't and the thing was still actively trying to stop us at that point. And honestly when I was able to sit down and think about it, I kinda felt sorry for it. But well... Chaos is what it named itself, and the name fits. Even if you can talk to it and empathize with it, it's not really.... all there, if an entity made up of the bits of millions of dead people's minds could even have been all there to start with. However sad its backstory might be, it's basically a destructive force of nature, and has to stay where it is."
Fun fact: Dairine was part of that first contingent to calm Chaos! Not sure how Lea'd know, though.
Date: 2023-04-18 08:02 pm (UTC)"But not much more... sophisticated methods, I suppose, beyond that."
Maybe when it came to balancing a voidcraft against the void, all that mattered was being able to activate the right coping mechanisms for you?
Nita absorbed the explanation of Diagad's story as Lea moved about the kitchen, a frown fixed on her face as she tried to imagine it.
Like the Pullulus, but under its own command? Only able to cause destruction, but not to fix a place-
She put that thought aside; she'd had it before about the void, and she hadn't gotten to ask anyone about her questions then either.
"Even for immortals, omnipotence isn't as common as you'd think. And power comes with one hell of a price."
In Chaos's case, it was their sanity and their entire world.
"You weren't all just dealing with Chaos after I left, though, you said? Were there more, uh, 'regular' missions? Ever find out more context for those missing memories?"
Nah Lea was pretty distracted. X3 Cool to know though.
Date: 2023-04-21 02:00 am (UTC)"And no it wasn't just Chaos," he said. "One place that springs to mind is the world with islands floating in the sky. Something about the place was incompatible with most of our powers. The people there had their own powers but trying to make them interact was uncomfortable and draining, if you could manage it at all. We were there dealing with a sort of two-pronged natural disaster that was unbalancing things for the world's inhabitants. They didn't trust us very much at first, but once we got to know each other a bit they were pretty cool. Even gave us some extra supplies when we left."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-21 07:56 pm (UTC)But they could get into that later.
Nita's expression turned thoughtful again as Lea went on.
"So the place was... maybe effected by the state of the void itself?" Like a proverbial canary in a coal-mine.
"Was that world the only one with that sort of problem?" Much as their missions before had been unique, it made sense that trend would continue.
Sorry for super late tag. orz Feel free to ignore if you'd rather not continue.
Date: 2023-06-05 11:19 pm (UTC)"As for that world, I guess it's possible. Like with most places, we didn't really stick around long enough for the sciencey types to really study things in detail. I do know that that was the only world where those kind of power problems seemed to be part of the normal state of things. I think everywhere else we stopped where we had issues with our powers- before or after that- it was always connected to whatever problem we were there to handle. We fixed the problem, our powers went back to normal. Not there though; whatever was causing the incompatibility, it was natural."
Aw, it's fine! I was looking forward to this thread, so I'm glad to continue it!
Date: 2023-06-05 11:54 pm (UTC)"Trust me, that's never a bad thing, having an instructor that'll push you."
But besides that...
"So such a place wouldn't have needed the Voidtrecker's help, normally?"
That seemed a reasonable conclusion, to her.