kingdoms_of_auradon | Mother, Tell Me What To Do- Event

It began with flowers. Now, flowers were nothing new to Auradon, but these were clearly no ordinary flowers. For one thing, they were distinctly not native to the area, looking much more like they hailed from somewhere far more tropical, though even should anyone- Missrecalled or local- be familiar with such things, they wouldn't be able to identify what species they were or exactly where they might be from. For another, rather than growing over time, they'd all just simply appeared overnight. And they'd appeared everywhere. From outdoor spaces where one would usually find flowers, to all sorts of places indoors where one normally wouldn't find them. Draped in living garlands around the shoulders of suits of armor. Twining around the legs of tables and chairs. Literally sprouting right out of the woodwork or wallpaper in places.

Avoiding them entirely would be difficult, though doable if one were particularly determined. Fortunately, aside from their mysterious appearance and their sudden ubiquitousness they seem to be harmless. They even smell nice, though no two people will be able to agree on exactly what the smell is like, just that it's pleasant.

However some of the flowers will randomly cause something odd to occur. Touching one, or breathing in too deeply from one of the random flowers will draw forth a memory for all nearby to see and hear. Only one memory will display at a time, and anyone in the area can see and hear it, but only those close enough to have caught the scent of that particular flower will get the full effect. They'll see the figures and setting as solid, and may experience subtle additional effects related to the memory, such as the feeling of a breeze or the smell of cooking food. Anyone else will see and hear everything fine, but will not experience any additional sensations and will see the scene as somewhat transparent. The figures aren't solid, they just seem like that to anyone who was close enough to smell the flower when it triggered.

The memory, oddly enough, will not be from the perspective of the one it belongs to; they and their companion or companions will be observing from a third party perspective, thus allowing a person to see their own face in the memories without the aid of a mirror. Nor can the memories be interacted with; those viewing them are observers only, and while they'll be able to hear the figures in the memory and each other speaking, no one in the memories will be able to hear or perceive them in any way. The memories vary in content and tone from person to person, for obvious reasons, but a common thread will soon be spotted: all the memories involve the person's mother or similar maternal figure. Generally they are more likely to be positive memories, if such memories exist.

Once the memory fades that flower looses its ability and becomes just like any other flower in this event. However another flower nearby might have been activated...

Picking one of the flowers and taking it back to their rooms- which are one of the few places that remain entirely flower-free, for some reason- will result in the person having vivid dreams of their mothers or maternal figures. Again, while the content of those dreams will vary widely for obvious reasons, in Auradon, the tone will be generally positive. Perhaps bright and cheerful, perhaps nostalgic and somewhat melancholy, but the dreams will be generally good ones, and those who have them will wake feeling generally refreshed and like they slept well. The dreams are just that, dreams. Even those with no memories of their mothers can have these dreams - but in the drams they will have a mother, and the dream will center around that maternal figure one way or another. Again, these are dreams and our minds can create the sweetest fantasies when so inspired. These dreams will linger one day past the event for every day the flowers had been kept in the bedroom. Also, oddly, of the flowers people pick will show no signs of wilting or drying out, even days after being picked no matter where they're left.

Then, after a week, all the flowers- whether picked or left alone - vanish overnight, just as suddenly as they appeared. A strange phenomenon, to be sure, but once it's over, other concerns will likely take precedence once again. After all, something like that couldn't possibly happen again, right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mal_contented

Some of her Isle self slipped through the new and shaky mask. "Ugh, it was an example. I don't actually care how wind works."

As he explained vacations she got more and more annoyed. She almost snapped his head off at the end, but remembered just in time that she was supposed to be Auradon Queen now, not Isle brat. She turned away, shaking her head. "Never had the chance for any of that," she said, annoyed that som bitterness was still in her words. "And somehow I doubt the king and queen ever will." She started to walk away. She had been trying to be witty, charming, flip. And look where it landed her. A science lesson that drove home just how little she knew that everyone else learned young, and how horrible her life had been before Auradon. And a reminder she was probably never going to have any time again to just be Mal.

Ugh. She needed to go tag something.

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Her remark about his little lesson regarding the wind was actually somewhat nostalgic, bringing to mind a certain evening on the Twilight Town clocktower, and Roxas giving him a playful shove after having the colors of the sunset explained. 'Like I asked, know-it-all!' Hers had a bit more bite, but it was still similar enough to notice.

Her reaction to the bit about vacations surprised him though. Had it been meant as a rhetorical question? It didn't sound like one. As she began to walk off, Lea followed, not having anywhere in particular he needed to be. And this was a good distraction from flower-induced memories. "Hey, you asked," he pointed out. "And dude, Kings and Queens probly need vacations more than most anyone. Once things get back to normal around here and any fallout is dealt with, you and Ben should totally take a week or so and go somewhere. Maybe to the beach, or some theme park resort. Heck, given how rich the royal family is, they likely have a private vacation home somewhere you could chill at for awhile."

Edited Date: 2023-06-25 10:12 am (UTC)

From:

mal_contented

Why did he think Ben's parents retired as soon as they could?

"There will always be things we need to do, always the chance of a crisis popping up. Some danger approaching," she said, voice firming up as her walking became stalking. "As long as I am responsible for Auradon and the people here, I will not let my guard down!" Not for something as trivial as fun. Or rest.

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Because apparently no one in Auradon understands the concept of delegating. Or of non-dramatic 16th birthdays. Or- Lea was beginning to believe- certain facets of common sense.

"Of course there's always a chance something'll happen," Lea said. "That's just called life. And obviously if there's some kind of emergency that requires royal authority, that would take precedence."

"Frankly though? If the kingdom's government can't run or protect its citizens without the king and queen being on call 24-7 to micro-manage things, that's a problem. Under normal circumstances, protecting the Kingdom shouldn't be your job; it should be the guards' jobs. And while there's definitely some things that would require a king or queen's stamp of approval, there's only so much they should really be needed for day to day. Honestly, the more I learn about Auradon, the more I wonder how it managed to function all this time..."

"Ben I kinda expected something like this from; he's a good guy, but he's too nice for his own good. Figured you'd be more the 'work smarter, not harder' type, but I guess not. Wanting to do a good job and taking your responsibilities seriously is great and all, but not to the point of burning yourselves out."

Noticing that her walking had changed to stalking, he stopped, shrugged, then turned around and started back the way he came. "But hey, if you want to run yourself into the ground trying to do everything for everyone, far be it from me to stop you." He waved back over his shoulder at her. "See you around, your royal purpleness."

From:

mal_contented

She whirled on him, glaring. "The guards can't turn into a dragon! Thy don't have magic! They're good people! I won't lt them get killed fighting a magically transformed villian!"

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Lea turned back to face her too. "Oh I don't doubt they're good people," he said. "The problem is that they're also people who apparently aren't properly trained or equipped to do the job that's literally in their name. Which you, as the Queen, could change, by the way; that'd probably be a way better use of your time than being paranoid and constantly on edge."

"Look, I get wanting to feel like you're in control of things. Really, I do. But at some point you and Ben are gonna have to learn to delegate. Because as much as you might want to do everything yourselves? You just physically can't."

"Despite what Auradon seems to want people to believe, no one is perfect, and trying to live up to the impossible standards this place sets eventually breaks people. And if some of the stuff I've found out from the library and news footage on Wetube is any indication, the cracks are already starting to show. Even when things eventually go back to normal they can't just go back to how they were. Something needs to change."

From:

mal_contented

"Auradon isn't supposed to have villains, but they do now. And they have to be stopped! And I can stop them!"

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"No place is 'supposed' to have villains," Lea said. "But pretty much every place does anyway. And Auradon, despite its reputation, was never gonna be an exception; not long term anyway. Everyone has both light and darkness in them, and there's always gonna be people who, for whatever reason, choose to go hard in the direction of darkness."

"You can't just... shove all the people whose darkness is the most obvious into what amounts to a permanent prison camp and call it done. That's not how life works. That's not how people work. Never has been and never will be."

"And whether you like it or not, you can't stop every threat on your own. Dragon or not, magic or not, you're still just one person. And as a person, you've got limits. I really don't want you to have to find out the hard way what they are."

From:

mal_contented

"You might have noticed, I'm not the one who made that choice!" she snapped. "Take it up with the adults. But Ben and I did decide to give some people another chance, and that makes any danger they pose my responsibility. And I cannot afford to have limits." So she refuses to.

That's how that works, right?

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"I wasn't accusing you," Lea said. "Mostly just... pointing out that the idea is messed up. But believe me, I'll have a few things to say to them too, if I get the chance."

"And yeah, that's not how that works. At all. Any of that. You and Ben did give people another chance, but if they decide to do something dumb and squander it, that's on them. It's their choice, not yours or Ben's, and ultimately everyone is responsible for their own actions."

"And you can't just... will yourself not to have limits. You can stretch them, occasionally, but even then, trying to do it constantly is gonna come back to bite you, probly at the worst possible time. But I know you're probly gonna try anyway, and it ticks me off. Why do I keep making friends with people who think that beating themselves up or running themselves into the ground is gonna help anything? I mean, you know it's pretty bad when I look like the sensible one in a scenario...."

From:

mal_contented

"You don't have to be my friend if it is going to be such a pain for you," she snapped. "Where I'm from I didn't get to whine when things were messed up. Because everything was! I'm not going to make that for everyone else. Now if you don't mind, since you are so clearly disgusted with me anyway, I have actual work to do!"

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Lea resisted the urge to facepalm, but only just. She really wasn't getting it was she? "At what point did I say anything about being disgusted with you or not wanting to be your friend?", he said. "It ticks me off because you're my friend. I care about you, and Ben, and this world too, and when someone hurts the people and things I care about, I get mad. Even if the one hurting a person I care about is themselves. Maybe especially then."

"Because it's pretty much always easily preventable and they just won't do the thing needed to prevent it. Because they're too stubborn, or angry, or self-loathing, or unwilling to set boundaries, or selfless, or some combination of those. I want to fix whatever the problem is for them and I can't. I want to help and they won't accept it, and I hate it."

"But in the end I have to let them figure things out themselves, because I can't just force them to do what I want or what I think is best for them. I tried that already. Not only did it not work, but I almost lost two of my best friends because of it. Did lose them for a while. I'm not gonna do it again." Well, outside an emergency, at least. But they weren't at that point yet.

"So yeah, I'm gonna keep bugging you- and Ben too, if need be- to freaking take care of yourselves because that's what friends do. Even if you don't listen."

From:

mal_contented

She spun to face him. "WHY?! What have I ever done to make you want to be friends with me to this degree!? And what makes you so sure you have all the answers anyway?! Besides!" she snapped. Then stopped. "Oh forget it."

She shook her head, turning away again.

Because that was it, wasn't it? He had no reason to like her, liked her anyway, but these other friends of his? If she let herself get close it would be Lydia all over again. Sylvando was... an oddity. Unusual. Unique. Her crew came up with her, they knew her at her worst.

But all these sudden fast friendships? Burned out just as suddenly, didn't they? Well, she was done being hurt like that.

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Lea was a bit surprised at that. She thought caring about her well being was some sort of major friendship milestone or something? But the rest of it just replaced surprise with irritation again. "I never said I had-" This time though when she turned away, he didn't pursue her, throwing up his hands in resignation. "Ugh, fine, whatever! You're just gonna do what you want anyway." He turned and started heading back the way they'd come. "Not sure why I even bother sometimes..."

Of course he did know, deep down. But it was hard to remember sometimes when he was angry. He had a feeling that was something they had in common. He'd come find her later and apologize, maybe try to explain things a little better, once they'd both had a chance to cool off a bit.

From:

mal_contented

"Well, I'm not sure either," she muttered, stalking off back to her room to grab some spray paint. She needed to vent, and this was what she had...

From:

hotheadwarmheart

Hours passed, and Lea was content to leave Mal to her own devices. Truthfully, he needed the time to himself too. Where Mal sought out spray paint, he took out his Keyblade, taking out his frustrations on some imaginary Heartless with a bit of training. Maybe not something Aqua would approve of, but it worked.

When she didn't come to dinner later that evening though, he began to wonder what was keeping her. He lingered in the kitchen, hoping to talk to her before eventually making up his mind to seek her out. Arranging a bowl of soup, a few slices of bread, two mugs of tea- one for him, one for her-, a small bowl of sugar cubes, and the needed utensils and napkins on a tray he set out to find her.

His hunch that she might be in the art room proved to be right on the munny, as he heard the telltale sound of a spray paint can in use as he approached. "So.... uh, hey," he said a bit sheepishly as he entered. "You missed dinner, so I figured I'd bring you a little peace offering." He indicated the tray of food before setting it on one of the tables.

From:

mal_contented

"You and Ben both," she muttered not turning to face him even as she nodded to the empty tray beside her. Not that she genrally turned down food. She kept painting, a mural of a dark purple rose dripping green blood with a black thorny stem.

From:

hotheadwarmheart

He saw the empty tray and mentally cringed a little. It figured Ben would have beaten him to the punch. "Well... now you get to have seconds, I guess," he said a little awkwardly. "And if it gets cold by the time you're ready for it, I can heat it up for you no problem."

"Anyway, I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. I shouldn't have gotten on your case like that, and I'm sorry. I meant most of the stuff I said, but I shouldn't have gone so hard on it; however I feel about things, it's not my place to tell you how to run your life. Especially when I can barely run mine most days."

From:

mal_contented

"Never said no to seconds, and you're right, it's not your place," she said stiffly. Then she sighed and glanced back at him, pausing on the spraying as she did. "But... apology accepted. Frankly, neither of us have a leg to stand on, it seems."

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"Yeah," he agreed wryly. "Honestly I think both of us have a bit of a problem with the whole brain-mouth filter thing when emotions get involved, and these flowers seem to be bringing up a lot of them."

He then paused to look at what she'd painted for a moment. "Least your method of blowing off steam is something creative though. That's a really cool piece; very you."

From:

mal_contented

"I paint," she said as if it was no big deal. "Auradon isn't exactly big on bating up minions and kicking in walls."

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"Hey I worked off my frustrations beating up imaginary Heartless," he said. "Which isn't exactly Aqua-approved Keyblade training, but it worked."

He picked up his mug of tea, casually reheating the contents til the liquid was gently steaming again, and mixed in a couple sugar cubes. "I could teach you a few moves, if you want. You'd have to use a regular sword rather than a Keyblade obviously, but it should still work. And it's good exercise, even if you don't plan to go out and fight any Heartless any time soon."

From:

mal_contented

"You'd be surprised how much I already know with a sword. And I can promise you, my targets are rarely imaginary. I might just teach you a thing or two instead."

From:

hotheadwarmheart

"Yeah? Maybe we could spar sometime then," he said. "I used to spar with my friend Kairi back home when we were training and then later on the Voidtrecker when she turned up. You'd never know it to look at her, but she hits like a truck; I was really surprised at first."