February Fallout + March Catchall

[silentsavant]

Who: Soren & OTA
When: March (some late February)
Where: Your Heart's Desire (or wherever designated)
What: Various. Soren is suffering from difficulties with his memory and bouts of disorientation after being brainwashed.
Warnings: Mentions of past event (blood/violence; brainwashing)

i. nameless faces
Maybe you're passing by the dragon on the streets of the Haven, or down in the Harbor District, or perhaps the Coven grounds. Maybe you know him and decide to greet him. Maybe you don't and do it anyway. Or maybe you're not the type to exchange pleasantries and instead offer him a passing glance of acknowledgment.

Or maybe you did none of these things, and Soren should still be able to recognize you. Maybe he doesn't, but thinks he should anyway. For some reason, he's offering a blank, nonplussed stare, long and hard like you're wearing someone else's skin. Realizing this faux pas, Soren snaps out of his brief trance and mumbles an apology.

"Oh... Excuse me." The way he shifts, he looks like he might just be thinking about evacuating the unintended social situation.

ii. lunatic (foeuveur 28th)
The Looking-Glass House was once devoid of a single soul besides the Dragon. Moonlight streams through the windows, full and bright. It's the witching hour. He cannot sleep.

He holds his horned head pressed to the surface of one of the many mirrors lining the walls as if in deep contemplation or to nurse a migraine. The charged and eerie silence echoes in mantras on his soft voice. If one treads closer, they will begin to hear snippets of what he murmurs to himself:

"He is not here. He never was. Don't let this infernal world get to your head..."

iii. fall back
Navigating the crush and flow of traffic in the Shopping District today is no mean task. Bypassing the crowd by taking to the air should come naturally to any Monster equipped with wings, but for whatever reason, this simple, frequently employed solution appears to have eluded the tactician.

It may not even cross anyone else's mind to begin with, being as there are plenty of shops packed together and stalls set up for the purpose of meandering through to browse. Soren pushes though as if on a mission to get out, but in the bustle and confusion, someone wheels around and clumsily smacks Soren in the back of his head hard enough to rob him of his footing.

The Dragon takes a skidding tumble into the streets, dropping bags and books. He gets trampled and tripped over a couple of times before passersby begin to notice, then throng him in a cluster of concern and curiosity. Soren blinks up at them in a daze, but then he blanches with fear. The crowd murmurs and shouts various questions and remarks, mostly whether he hurt himself or why he won't say or do anything, but it's difficult to parse among the cacophonous backdrop. His mouth hangs open and he tries to make himself smaller. One person reaches out, but he withdraws even harder, flinching as though they mean to strike rather than lend a hand. This show forces some of the people to shake their heads at his refusal of help and move on with their day, while the few who remain offer each other questioning glances as if asking each other what to do if he's going to act like this.

[[ Will also create custom starters or plot something different! Hit me up via wingything or discord (paingel#4140) or shoot me a PM if you want to hatch or discuss something! Please feel free to use script format in tags if that's what you prefer. ]]

Comments

[silentsavant]

"I was trying to find out more information on dreamwalking," he replies after an unsteady beat. Another unsteady beat passes. Soren's eyes float up briefly, one corner of his lip turning down.

"Or, no... No, I was just about to look into books on anatomy," he corrects, though even now he looks unsure of himself. "...I do a lot of reading. Though I cannot practice magic here, I find it important to understand how it works here. I am a mage, so..."

This is not going well at all. Soren's eyes widen a bit at how bunched up his sense of time and place, his train of thought had gotten and, once again, tries to get back on track with a soft clearing of his throat.

"Was a mage, I mean. You can understand my natural curiosity."

[worldcleansing]

It's not unusual to not remember exactly what you were studying at any given point in time, especially if you study as often as they do. Even the slip-up 'was a mage' versus 'am a mage' is understandable; he's lived his life one way and suddenly everything changes when he comes here. It's likely a hard transition.

More than the actual mistakes — though Soren seems to have made a few already — it's the reactions to them that have Light wondering if something is going on. He seems more bothered by the slip of tongues than one usually would.

Then again, Light is going by generalizations considering they'd only met.

"I do understand."

He does. He'd probably be reading into magic even as a monster, even without being a mage at home.

"But are you feeling okay? You seem a little confused."

Not about the current situation, but the general sense of disorientation surrounding Soren is a bit worrisome.

[silentsavant]

It would appear that Light is on the right track, for pointing out his mental floundering causes the dragon to avert his eyes again and shift his balance: another reaction to the confusion itself. He crosses his arms and looks at him once again, weighing how much to give a stranger, whether he should simply excuse himself and get on with... whatever he'd been trying to accomplish. This sudden lack of immediate purpose blockades him here.

"...To tell you the truth, yes," he sighs. "You must have heard of the recent events surrounding the Evergreen Circle. A number of people were kidnapped, including me. Some were to be sacrificed, while some of us were coveted as servants and had our memories tampered with to suit their needs. It's powerful magic, and forbidden. I am still contesting with some... lingering side-effects."

[worldcleansing]

"I heard what they were doing."

Light spent a lot of time investigating them so Soren's tale isn't the first he's heard, but it's no less concerning. Someone can mess with their memories and rewrite their lives. Someone had. Light hadn't fallen victim, thankfully, but as someone who believed in justice, he isn't happy that anyone suffered at their hands.

And now, Soren's questioning everything. Fair enough. It's understandable.

"Maybe that's where you recognize me, after all. I was there the night the Shade broke free."

Not as a sacrifice or servant, but as someone who planned to stop them.

[silentsavant]

After that revelation, Soren grows pensive. His mind darkens as it returns to the space he had been in when blood soaked deep in his nails and the stench of the Cwyld was inescapable and Ike had died in his heart and he'd almost murdered his real Bonded and the walls and ceilings began to cave in beneath his fury and his might and... ... He nods, the tip of his tail shifting unconsciously in his slight increase in discomfort.

"Perhaps..." But he doesn't need to talk about that night any longer. They both know keenly how it went. Instead, he opts to focus on where he stands with Light, where Light stands among the other Mirrorbound who are more allies than the enemies he'd been mentally wrought to believe, if only to keep himself from plunging and his mind trained on something he can make better sense of. If he hasn't seen him around much, it could either mean that he'd been made to forget or Light was relatively new... or they'd simply managed to avoid seeing each other around. "How long have you been here in Aefenglom?"

[worldcleansing]

The change in topic is obvious, probably intentionally, but no less understandable for it. Light's luck has kept him out of trouble thus far, somehow, but he's well aware of how he'd react if he were suddenly to discover he was brainwashed to create a new truth.

"It'll be six months soon. Somehow, it feels longer, but I've had a chance to really settle in."

His magical studies are coming across well, and he's finally started a job that actually interests him. It wasn't easy to start over, but Light's satisfied with his progress.

"The world I'm from doesn't have magic so there was a lot to learn. You said you were a mage? I'm surprised that didn't transfer over as a witch."

Not that it's a perfect 1:1 comparison, but it seems like most logical thing to happen.

[silentsavant]

A particular breed of uneasiness turns inside of him. There is a reason for that, though he can't quite grasp at its form. His mother was a dragon... or... was she? Soren's eyes trace the shape of his deep red arm fins poking out from slots in his sleeves. He's been made to believe many lies about his own past, lies constructed to trick him into thinking he'd been born here. This could very well be one of them. He can't even remember his own mother's face, much less anything about her. And yet...

Shaking his head, he replies after a gravid pause. "Who knows what kind of reason lies in what we've become? You've never known magic, and yet you were made a witch."

It's enviable, he thinks with a hint of bitterness. Yes; as a dragon, his abilities are tremendous. But to not be so weak to what plagues this world, to have the versatility of magic and all the shapes it could take at his fingertips...

"Do you often find yourself asking why?" Or is it something a human would take for granted?

[worldcleansing]

"I haven't known monsters before, either. It was probably a kindness that they didn't go based on what I did and didn't know."

In comparison to Soren's answers, Light's are easy and friendly. The difference is the confidence behind his words, a confidence that Soren seems to struggle to find after the manipulation. To lose the ability to trust even in your own memories seems like a difficult blow.

"Why? Why I became a witch instead of a monster?"

He laughs, a light sound.

"I ask 'why' to a lot of things. I'm a curious person. I've wondered, and I think that's the answer. I've always worked hard and studied a lot of things in school, even beyond what was required. I've been able to apply the same to magic, and I've picked up on it pretty fast.

I'll be honest: it's my preference. But, I do think if I didn't become a witch, I would have liked to be a dragon. They're mythical at home, but they're also well known for how powerful they would be, if they existed."

[silentsavant]

To want to be a dragon above other monsters hardly seems unreasonable, given the perks of sitting at the apex for all to fear, admire, and desire. Barring the tricky issue of the Cwyld, of course. Light seems particularly interested in possessing the legendary power of dragons, and though some would humbly deny it, everyone is interested in power one way or another, for power is the key to unlocking many desires. What desire Light is drawn to in relation to that power remains in the dark. If Soren were given the choice to change into any other monster, he's not sure he would. Perhaps he's been a dragon for so long that it's become too natural to him? Hadn't he lost his impressive strength not too long ago? His ability to fly, to use breath? To be able to intimidate and back it up with substance? Ah, yes. How he'd taken it for granted while he had it. Now that it's back, he'd hate to lose it again. Especially when the world has proven time and time again a perilous place, and to be a defenseless dragon in it could end up being the worst fate if precautions aren't taken.

Light's answer gives Soren some food for thought. As he had been hoping, talking to someone, even if he usually shies away from it unless there's a solid aim to doing so, provides him with some mental stimulation to help him process what he should and should not remember. He risks humiliating himself by slipping into confused states where he forgets who he should be or where he is, but he'd already alerted Light to his mental disorganization. He turns over what he thinks he wants to say, appraises its validity, before submitting it.

"How interesting your world must be not to have magic or dragons," he muses. "I wonder what else it lacks. Are you absolutely sure that they don't exist? Or are they so rare and difficult to find that this is how they obtained this mythical status?"

[worldcleansing]

"Dragons as we know them don't exist. There are komodo dragons, but they're nothing like the myth. Once, we had dinosaurs, which I think were the closest things, but it still doesn't match perfectly. I'm not saying we don't have impressive animals, but the monsters here are based on things that are mythical in my world. It makes me wonder if the people behind them come from here, or a world like it. It's hard for me to buy it as a coincidence considering how closely a lot of them match.

Honestly, I find it more interesting to think of a world where they do exist. Did it affect the speed of science, like it did for this world? Do dragons, or other monsters, stick to themselves? When you come from a world where the craziest things are likely microscopic or long dead, it raises a lot of questions."

Light chuckles at himself.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to bombard you with too many." The guy's already having memory problems. "But I think it's really interesting."

[silentsavant]

"It's fine. I believe this is good for me," assures Soren. "I'm getting something out of talking with you. Let me think... I'm trying to remember the myths and monsters of my own world."

He spends several seconds steeped in thought before presenting his response. "The very first monster I began to compare is a turnskin, but those aren't mythical where I come from. They're very real — entire nations of people who turn into beasts like tigers and wolves as the dragons can... though the moon doesn't affect them." He nods to himself. "Yes, this sounds correct. And there are harpies, too... bird tribes, I mean. Most of them live on islands. One of those tribes might as well be mythical nowadays, for beorc rendered them all but extinct. But they did, and do, exist in recent memory. Hmm... I wonder if the age of our worlds has something to do with what's in it?"

It could potentially be an arbitrary component... but still interesting to consider as a measure with which to compare other worlds and what exists in them with.

[worldcleansing]

"With so many different worlds and so many different possibilities, we won't find one factor that makes a consistent difference. What exists in one world, might never exist in another."

Light's curious about the Death Note, but it isn't really a question he can ask. Since he's part of the investigation, knowing about it isn't suspicious, but there's no reason to open a door to questions that may come back to haunt him.

"Even between worlds that have magic. I assume this world isn't exactly like your own."

There's a chance it is but considering the limitless possibility of world history, abilities, and countless other characteristics, it seems unlikely.

[silentsavant]

"Not exactly, no. There are many differences, such as the flora and fauna; the properties of magic and who can access it; the sophistication of technology with regards to features like lighting, teleportation, and communications... but there are plenty of similarities, too. If my memories would serve me better, I could remember specifics of the worlds of other Mirrorbound, too. For example, many of them appear to come from a country called... oh, what was it. It had free education, a highly marketable entertainer phenomenon called 'idols'... Why can't I remember? I've been here for..."

Give him a moment, Light. It's the aforementioned memory problems. He knits his brow and crosses his arms and stares a hole into the floor between them.

"...Ages. It definitely feels like I've been here for too long." He cuts his staring contest short to return eye contact with Light, sighing. "Anyway, there is truth in what you say. Once I'm in proper form, I will be more capable of holding a more in-depth and intelligent conversation on the matter of comparing and contrasting the realities of different people. For now, I will continue to frustrate both you and myself."

He seems quite ruffled by his mental incapacity.

[worldcleansing]

"It's good not to give in to the loss, but you shouldn't push yourself too much either. It sounds like it's coming back."

It sounds like Soren is interested in this conversation, but that the time and place isn't the best opportunity to have it. If he's struggling with his daily life, he'll surely have an even harder time digging that far into his past.

"But if you're interested in talking when it's easier for you, you can usually find me in the library."

[silentsavant]

This seems like a good way to slip out of the conversation, for while it was nice to exercise his mind by talking to a Mirrorbound with a pleasant yet sensible personality, he has never been much of an extrovert and finds the opportunity of retreating on a good note appealing.

"Thank you for your offer, and also your patience." He turns halfway to indicate his leave. "I ought to be going now. I will probably be seeing you around."