Event Log: April, Dream a Little Dream

[faileas]

Event Log: April, Dream a Little Dream (Of Me)

I. The Looking-Glass House These strange shared dreams are part and parcel of being Mirrorbound, nothing too unusual for those who entered this world through similar dreams and then a mirror. No doubt you've all experienced your share by now. Normally those dreams have something to say about the world, something to show Mirrorbound about their new temporary home, but this time... This time, it has something to show the Mirrorbound about each other, perhaps. The Looking-Glass House, from the outside, seems no different from how it looks in the waking world. Each cobblestone still glows as you step upon it, drawing your attention toward the entryway of the two-story cottage that sits at the edge of the Coven's courtyard. You can still wander the Coven grounds if you'd like, but nothing is different from how it will be when you wake, save the lack of bustling Witches and Monsters going about their business. Areas that are normally inaccessible are still inaccessible. Whatever secrets this dream may hold, they all lie within the hall of mirrors. Perhaps you haven't had reason to step into this building in some time, or maybe you're here often, checking for new arrivals. Maybe you only recently arrived here and the sight of these mirror-lined hallways is fresh in your mind. Something has changed, however... Many of the hundreds of mirrors on the walls remain the same: dull, dusty, undecorated, some cracked or broken. As lifeless as a mirror can get. Yours, if you seek it out, looks the same as it did to you on your arrival - the frame covered in reminders of your home, your life, the surface of it clear and shiny-new. But this time, in this dream, yours is not the only one you can see signs of life in. Other mirrors also have the clear, silvery glass within their frames that yours does, indicating a connection to someone currently in Aefenglom. Maybe you can pick out the mirrors of people you know by the few carvings in the frames you can pick out; the closer you are to someone, the more of their mirror's decoration you're able to see, though the frames of strangers' mirrors remain unadorned to your gaze. You might feel yourself compelled to lay your hand on one of these silvery-bright mirrors, and when you do, the glass ripples like movement on a still pond. Like water, it allows you entry to another time, another place, another world - or at least, the memory of such. Who knows what you'll witness there, something beautiful or something terrible, but you only have to slip back through the mirror into the Looking Glass House to end it.

Welcome to April's event log, Dream a Little Dream! This event is a little more 'make your own fun' than others (since we are not currently in a place to be able to run a plot-heavy event this month), so feel free to play with the dream mechanics generally as you will. The main things to keep in mind are: memories are from the character's point of view however you choose to interpret that; memories cannot be altered or show a character something they could not have witnessed; please be considerate when using other people's characters in a memory, and visitors cannot directly interact with people/NPCs within a memory. Interacting with creatures/environment of a memory is fine. Otherwise, have fun! As always, feel free to use this log or make your own, and direct event-related questions here.

Comments

[piromare]

It does, and I hate it. ( he watches in awe as the blue and pink flames continue to raze the ground, buildings pouring fire, and the dragon's continued assault causing heat to leak everywhere. it's at that time he spots someone running in the streets, chasing alongside a firetruck that's zooming alone across the city.

he points. )

The Mad Burnish don't hurt people. We burn because... it's how we survive. The flames need us to do that. But we leave exits, we allow people to escape, because we're not monsters. We just wanted to find a home, somewhere we could be alone and not have to face continued prejudice.

( the last word feels like more weight has been placed on it, only because of his current state. he forms a fist, clenches it so hard that his knuckles paler than he already is. )

That idiot will stop me. ( 'idiot' being the softest word and way he can say it. ) And he would never betray me.

( those words catch in his throat. )

I won't stop trying, Vanitas. I want to make sure that I'm doing it the right way, without putting risk to myself... or to others that might come from my home.

[darkcharge]

[ Now Vanitas is usually pretty quick to catch on. So when he has questions, it's more to clarify what he's already starting to put together. ]

Are you and the flame separate entities? What happens if you don't burn?

[ Though, again, he can kind of guess. If it's the sort of thing that one must do or either go out of control or perish... That's a thing that he can related to with his own Unversed. Releasing them of his own volition is a better option than the creatures forcing themselves out of his body.

Hie eyes follow the "idiot" that Lio had pointed to. Makes sense, really. There's always someone like that, isn't there? Maybe not for Vanitas, but for people that actually matter.

In the end, Vanitas can't help but chuckle. Lio might have a strong will and an underlying rage to go with it, but he's not necessarily a bad person at all. He'd probably get along with some of his guardians of Light just fine. ]

If that's what you want to do, then do it. You're, by far, better than I. If I was in your place? I wouldn't care what happened to anyone else, right or wrong.

[piromare]

I don't think there's ever been a Burnish that refused to. Even if they denied the flames, they eventually understood why they had to.

( because it was the only way to survive. )

That being said, if they were ever extinguished? We die, and we turn to ash.

( he remembers trying to resuscitate someone and failing; someone who had been experimented on and despite his best efforts, even as the strongest burnish, he couldn't do a thing. she had been used, expended, all of her energy gone and it had been a miracle she had survived to even get assistance.

it makes him, right now, still angry. not just because of her death or the people that caused it, but because he couldn't do anything. powerless.

he's not sure how vanitas can live like that, or maybe he's lying? for some reason, he wants to believe that despite being someone else's 'darkness' that it's... a lot more complicated than that. )

I don't think I can judge right and wrong. Not knowing everything changes that, and things change in the heat of the moment. For better or for worse.

( just like his anger consuming him. )

... either way, I'm no longer Burnish. I'm just human, for now.

[darkcharge]

So this flame really is a part of you. Can't say I envy that existence. At least you're whole, if that counts for something.

[ Unfortunately, Vanitas isn't lying in this case. He really is like that. Vanitas had been created hating the worlds and everyone in them. They all have what he doesn't. They are all complete in a way that he can never be. The worlds cannot accept his existence. It's not a warm, inviting place for him.

Then, of course, is the years spent under Xehanort and his "training." Vanitas is the product of it. Of someone trained and "raised" for a single purpose without ever being more than a tool for someone else's grand design. So, yes, it is complicated. ]

Things like right and wrong are all dependent upon perspective, isn't it? What you think is right and best might not always be agreeable to someone else.

[ So the problem is more how to reconcile that, isn't it? Can such things be reconciled? ]

Does it feel like something's missing? Being this instead of what you were?

[piromare]

( whether he feels like he's whole, lio can't say. the promare has been with him ever since he was born. though he certainly did a lot of work to be strong, to be capable, the promare allowed him to be that. the foundation is still there, but to now have to apply it to feathers and talons, wings in the future, instincts that don't belong to him?

it's unsettling. )

Yeah, it does. I wonder this new part of me will take its place. It feels like I don't have a choice but to let it.

( a pause, and he folds his arms across his body. )

I just don't want to lose my sense of self, like what you're seeing here.

[darkcharge]

[ He can imagine, in a way, the sort of hole that something like that could leave behind. Therefore Vanitas isn't completely unsympathetic. What has given rather than taken? It won't necessarily fill that hole. ]

Maybe it will. Or it won't.

[ Vanitas snorts. He gets this too, that feeling of not wanting to lose whatever sense of self one has. ]

If you really don't want to lose anything, I hate to tell you that you will need to find a bond. Maybe it won't completely help you with what you are missing, but it could.

[ This Vanitas knows from experience. ]

[piromare]

I know. ( he smiles, but it's somewhat muted--- there's no joy in it. he's resigned to the fact that a bond is the only way to truly alleviate himself of the worst of the side effects of being a monster. ) But I also have some time to find one, so I'm trying to do my due diligence.

( there are also temporary bonds, but he doesn't want to rely on them. he would rather find at least one who will benefit as much, if not more, than he does. )

I'm sure you have a few bonds, don't you?

[darkcharge]

I don't blame you for taking your time. Who you pick should be important, considering all that comes with it.

[ Vanitas hasn't tried temporary bonds. Why would he want something that is transient and fleeting? No, he had fought against the idea for months, thinking that he could handle it. Turns out he couldn't, though he had made a valiant effort. Or a stupid one.

He just had to reach the point of breaking before accepting that he had needed it. ]

I do have a few, yes.

[piromare]

I'm sure they're lucky to have you.

( he watches as the dragon is knocked out of the air, being slammed into a container with the firefighter who would end up smacking some sense into him. a part of him misses that idiot, that blue haired shirtless moron, not because of their goals aligning but because of the friendship that was starting to form between them. )

... I miss the fire. Here's hoping that I'll find it again, someday.

[darkcharge]

Honestly it's likely the other way around.

[ It's not often that Vanitas will show any sort of vulnerability. He doesn't really want people to, outside of those that he shares bonds with or feels close to. Lio doesn't really fit that description just yet so to talk about it? Well perhaps, for once, Vanitas feels like making sure that someone knows that he's the one that is in need of them. It's not necessarily the other way around. ]

It's not like your fire is permanently gone. When you return you'll have it again.

[piromare]

( there's the tiniest, slightest twitch at the corners of his lips. he'd love to say something about that, but lio holds his tongue. what he learns from anyone shouldn't be mocked or laughed about. if anything, he's honored to be comforted by van? if that's what he's trying o do, anyway.

lio sighs, kicks some of the rubble of the cell out of the building, and nods. )

Yeah, I will. I have a lot to do when that happens but for now, I'll just... be patient.

( staring at the tallest building in the distance, lio clicks his tongue in annoyance. )

Too much unfinished business.

[darkcharge]

[ It's not actively comforting. Rather, if that is what he is doing then Vanitas is doing so subconsciously. Another thing that being around people like Mira and being Bonded to Sora and Marie have done to him, likely. Quite difficult for their personalities not to rub off a little on him.

Vanitas is also just pragmatic. That one truth might have slipped out, but he's come to terms with the fact that needing Bondmates isn't a weakness. It has made his magic more stable. Stronger. ]

Just about everyone here has too much unfinished business. [ A snort. ] Not me, of course, but from your memories it seems like you have something to do.

[piromare]

( lucky for vanitas. then again, while he may not have as much business to take care of back home, he must have plenty to deal with here. when lio looks back at van, he can't help but smile faintly. he never expected to share any part of his life with anyone but those who experienced it alongside of him, and yet... there they are.

no judgment. a neutral eye, and maybe some understanding.

it's... nice. )

Plenty. But until then, I have to make do with what I have here.

( turning around, he sees the mirror shimmer. )

... I'm glad you could see this.

[darkcharge]

[ Well that's a lot of it. Just making due with what is going on here - what's been given after things had been taken away. Even Vanitas is doing the same, though it's given him more to think about and more time for reflection than he'd ever wanted. More than he'd ever want to ask for.

The comment about being "glad" Vanitas could see this? It stumps him really. ]

Glad? How?

[piromare]

Everything went so quickly. I think... even at my lowest, it feels good to share some of these memories.

( lio shakes his head to himself, giving vanitas the same half-smile. )

The Burnish are still human, after all, even if we don't seem like it at first. We feel anger just like anyone else.

( with a tilt of his head, he gestures toward the mirror. )

I think I need a snack. How about you?

[darkcharge]

[ Vanitas still isn't quite sure that he gets it. Sharing things like memories to feel better. None of his particularly make him feel better. Van would avoid them if he could.

Though Lio's words... Van would argue that as long as the Burnish are whole and complete then of course they are human. Naturally they'd feel anger just like anyone else. That's what the heart does it feels. ]

You paying?

[ ...He has a sweet tooth okay? ]

[piromare]

( he'll have the courage to tell vanitas why. maybe sooner than later, but... the last thing in his sight before showing up in that house with the mirrors wasn't something he was willing to admit or assume the worst of. )

Of course. ( he's used to looking out for others, doing all the buying decisions. he's definitely willing to do this for van. ) But go on easy on me, okay?

( surely van won't go to town on food like galo might, right? )

[darkcharge]

[ Haa... Interesting that Lio would be so willing to part with funds. Vanitas doesn't quite understand the value of a "dollar" himself, never having to deal with things like money or finances. ]

Can't imagine that you'd have much to spend just yet. Don't worry about that.

[ Vanitas doesn't really have a hollow leg or anything like that. He'll just eat what he is given. ]

[piromare]

( no, but... being in a place where he can finally spend, without the fear of being hauled off or accused of being some kind of terrorist, is a good feeling. not being immediately hated. he'll take the scrutiny of being a monster over that. )

I have enough. I've lived with much, much less.

( with a laugh, lio walks toward the exit. )

You'll have to show me your favorite places, okay?

[darkcharge]

[ Ah, how he can relate to that. In a way... Vanitas doesn't have to think about being judged or seen as some creature of Darkness here. In fact, so many people have been encouraging him to believe the opposite - that he is his own person and deserves happiness just like anyone else. It's just taking him a while to actually start to see it himself. ]

Sure. I can take you to one.

[ With that, Vanitas exits the mirror. Lio... He's not so bad. Tolerable. So, yeah. Vanitas doesn't really mind spending a bit more time around the other. ]