Scene Archives

managed to catch Awoken before he headed back into town after breakfast, and asked him to tag along to help test something and answer a few questions.

frowns slightly at the tilted sign as he steps inside, then moves over to set it back right. “…Really wasted no time, huh.”

casually saunters into the Liminal Library and wastes little time getting comfortable on one of the couches, both arms resting along the back of one, one leg draped horizontally over the other, in a big casual sitting back lean.

: “What’s up?”

: “Okay, you want me to ease the conversation in towards the big point or should I just fire at will?”

casually waves a hand. “I was going to ask about the sign first, but feel free to throw your best one at me if it’s burning inside you.”

: “Ah. Well. You didn’t heard this from the guy in my head that has nothing better to do than carefully observe every notable thing we do within earshot of a Sage, but, someone did Not respect the warning label.”

puts a finger to his lips, then turns around towards the entrance gate and pulls out a pen as he begins to do some mental calculations.

: “There’s more than one person silly enough to flip it?” He laughs, rolling his head back. “And to think people used to be worried about me!”

: “I know, right? So. The giant maybe-not-evil-but-definitely-terrifying Fish. You had a particularly pronounced effect to it. I kinda get the impression you should maybe tell someone what all you experienced.”

: “Hmm…” He hangs his neck forward, head still upright, gauging Aurelius.

: “I suppose it doesn’t necessarily have to be me, but I am kinda curious, we’re sort of on similar pages, and, if I’m being honest, it causing you to start mumbling was concerning.”

: “Since we’re playing face-up, both of your responses are interesting to me, before I even start.” He gently tilts his head this way and that as he speaks.

takes a step back from the portal, tilts his head to the side, then steps back close to it and begins to draw small runes into the frame around the gateway.

: “You ‘kinda get’ and ‘maybe,’ and then ‘concerning.’”

: “What can I say, I love me a good qualifier.”

: “Sure, but typically more for yourself than others.”

: “Also concern rather than interest.”

: “I have several concerns about the well being of my closest traveling companions.”

straighens his neck and brushes hair from his face. “Mm. Well.”

: “It’s interesting that you call it a fish- didn’t you say something about a dragon?”

: “Oh. Well. There was a whole Thing about them being fish underneath the projected visage? I can feel you in later. But if you want me to start, then sure.”

lightly laughs. “I’ll start, I fear not any revelations that will come to pass.”

: “I most certainly didn’t witness a fish, or any other creature.”

: “It was a hole.”

: “A hole surrounded by, and even within its nothingness, reaching out with millions upon millions of hands…” He slowly reaches out with his own.

: “Grasping? No. Beckoning. Hands of violet tinge.”

mumbles just loud enough to be heard, but not interrupt, as he continues drawing runes around the entire length of the gate. “(Ah, the ‘ol abyss full of haunted hands…)”

: “The hole itself being one that called, an open gate that compels you towards its precipice. A seemingly limitless abyss, one so utter and certain that you would call into it just to witness the nothingness that answers.”

rests his arms against the back of the couch again.

: “Fear isn’t what I felt.”

: “During the experience, after a third, or perhaps fourth heartbeat, I wondered- could I reach the limit of infinity?”

: “Preparing myself to extend a liminal gnosis to explore such.”

: “And then, a silly maw eel!”

: “How anticlimatic.”

: “It’s interesting how many people didn’t receive fear from the Visitor’s image since, from what we were told, that’s like their entire thing…? Hm.”

taps a temple with a single extended pointer finger. “We are a strange, broken bunch, and we let it stop us less than we think it should.”

: “Heh.”

: “Some of that are more comfortable with that idea than others, is all.”

: “For my part, it was pretty clearly aimed at Jorule and not myself. It was, as mentioned, a giant paper-mache dragon at first. Real bright colors, all done up for a festival and what not. Then… it opens it’s mouth, right? And inside the mouth there’s this paradoxical, endless expanse of gentle rolling grasslands, further than the eye can see. And the sky? Just on the cusp of changing into one of a cold, winter’s night. It stares at us for a few seconds and then, I guess, decided it was bored and we weren’t worth consideration or it’s time…? And it turned away. And then googly eyed maw eel.”

: “And how did that make you feel?”

: “Uncomfortable. But I got enough of his memories to realize it was, despite what it sounded like, actually building off some pretty traumatic memories.”

: “So it at least felt like the fish was doing what it was supposed to.”

: “Do you feel like you- all of you, even Jorule- could have done anything about it?”

: “Done anything? How do you mean?”

: “To fight the concept. Other than the Samudran coffee blend of having a trained response to emotional stimuli.”

: “Oh. Well.”

: “Hmm.”

: “Can't fight Winter, 86. Not really. Think you know that as well as anyone. Best you can manage is to just try and keep the Sage entertained as long as possible, to keep those curtains open just a lil bit longer.“

: “…Dragons and Grasslands are pretty easy to deal with tho. Don’t provoke the sleeping ones, and remember to come up for air.”

: “So… the Winter is the concern, the rest is preamble? Context to what it encompasses, and to what will be lost?”

: “Something like that? They got into a fight with the Queen of Dragons in one story, and almost got killed in a place where they shouldn’t have even been capable of getting hurt. And then… well, he almost drowned in the grasslands while trying to explore past the boarder, y’know? So. Reasonable ideas to poke at if you were trying to frighten a person.”

: “Would losing the fight against the Queen of Dragons, or being killed in a place of seeming-invulnerability, brought about Winter?”

folds his arms over his chest. “…If she had got everyone before the decided to cut their losses and run from the fight, maybe? Though probably not, I don’t think the whole cast was there at the time.”

: “So I’m gonna say something brazen next-“

: “This is my shocked face -“

hasn’t blinked in a while. “I accept that these events were tragic and horriying. But isn’t it exactly what you were looking for?”

unfolds his arms and resumes drawing runes.

: “Right, exactly. The experience aligned with the pitch and warning I was given. That’s why it’s so interesting to me that it didn’t for you, or Salme, or Wolf (well, halfway), or Caion. And who knows if it actually did as advertised on Unua or not…?”

: “Salme thinks it’s cause you’re all fundamentally broken in a way that doesn’t leave much to fear left.”

: “Sorry, ‘have already experienced to much fear and loss and have to little to hold onto nothing there’s nothing left to take’? I don’t know there may have been a slightly different nuance.”

‘s chuckle from inside the chest- deep and darkly amused. “If she said that I doubt she left herself out of that count.”

: “Definitely not, not sure she’s capable of going a day without putting herself down.”

: “Though we’re working on it.”

: “Or so I gathered!” He lightens up his tone. “I knew you’d get there eventually.”

: “It is when you have convinced yourself that the step into the unknown will bring knives rather than solid ground.”

: “Do you think we were broken before having little care to swim from the Angel-fisher’s net?”

: “Honestly? Yeah.”

: “And now, the climax-“ He leans forward, elbows on knees, fingers interlinked with each other.

: “Are we broken? Or are we naturally sharp, our true selves sharp enough to cut with a look, the kind that lowers or raises the temperature with our very presence?”

: “That’s a rhetorical question right?”

: “We’re already testing the limits of the universe.”

: “Only death cures a fool.”

pauses for a second, turning around.

: “Legitimately, why are you like this? Were you like… a play writer in your previous life…?”

laughs, mirthful and joyous from the belly, clapping as he leans back, and kicks his feet up onto the convinently spaced coffee table.

: “I agree, it doesn’t really matter. We are as we are now.”

shakes his head a bit before returning his gaze to the frame around the gate.

: “Right, we’re all perfect in own lil misshapen ways and all that.”

: “Oh I didn’t say perfect, just shaped as we are, as opposed to shattered from who we were.”

: “Okay, well, I’m perfect and ya’ll should hurry and catch up.”

laughs from behind his teeth, smiling wide. “That’s it- that’s the response for being present.”

: “Oh from - hahaha. Yeah alright, yeah.”

: “So! The runes?” He folds an arm across his midsection, supporting a rested elbow that cranes a pointed finger. “What’s their purpose that a sign won’t provide?”

takes a step back after finishing off the last one.

: “So, it didn’t occur to me when we were building this, but like… it’s. Comically easy to actually get inside this thing, right? Despite us wanting to store memories in here? And seeing all these groups of one or two wander in and out all night and morning made me realize… we definitely need to be able to track who’s coming and going from this place, and potentially even develop a black list for it.”

: “Or a white list. One of the two. Either way.”

places one hand against the wall where the runes are, and begins to channel pellucid, tenebrous, and radiant gnosis into them in short sequences. And as he’s doing that, he point his uses his other hand to run it over the space where nothing used to be there, but slowly a small pedestal along with a book and pen attached to the pedestal are attached begin to shimmer into existence.

‘s eyes widen, his grin fades, his brow furrows in a pensive, (rotating) form.

: “Do you worry that… our memories could be used to hurt us?”

: “The lack of them certainly have been, but I do not like the idea of, say, the Architect finding this, picking it up, and having access to anything we deem important enough to keep in here.”

: “So, yes.”

: “Information’s the most important thing you can have when going to war.” He says in agreement.

scratches at a temple at that.

: “What, do you not think we’re at war with him? Half our group sure as hell does.”

scrunches up his lips, looks to the side, and then back at Aurelius. “Not particularly, no. I mean, I’m not.”

laughs as the energy stops flowing from his hands. The runes all blink a few times in a complex sequence before settling on a dull glow that’s nearly impossible to notice, and the pedestal, book and pen fully take shape. “Good luck convincing Salme that.”

: “Can you open that up and tell what entries are in there?”

: “I don’t doubt that many of us are cross and angry and hurt at what he’s done, but- war?” He stands up and starts walking over to the guestbook (It’s absolutely a guestbook). “If it’s war we want, we’re fighting it in the worst way imaginable.”

: “Granted, most of us do not exactly have a concept of war so… checks out.”

: “We’re literally world-hopping to find ways to secure the worlds from being further broken, destroyed, and so far, at least with Almachadta, looking to bring them to something kinder, gentler, one that flourishes life over misery. Just as his stated mission was for us.”

: “If it’s a war, we’re his soldiers.”

opens the guestbook.

tilts his head. “You reckon when he realizes we’ll be able to find a way to fix all the world’s he’ll just apologize and be like, oh, well, sorry for the whole mind wipe abduction thing and also leaving your worlds to die, that was silly of me?”

tilts his head in the opposite direction. “Yes? Is there reason to believe otherwise?”

is the one to erupt into laughter this time.

: “I bet he’d even allow you to sock him in the face if it’d make you feel better.”

: “Oh, man…”

: “It’s crazy to think how badly I misread you as a person initially. Optimist to a fault, huh?”

: “First, let me read this here listing to see if it works-“ And he does so, what’s written in the book?

: “Penmanship’s a bit shaky, but otherwise- wow people have been busy.”

: “Yeah, like I said, trivial to get inside once you know about it currently.”

takes a few steps over to glance over the Awoken’s shoulder. “Yeah that more or less looks… right… huh.”

: “We have GOT to find out what the fuck you did, dude.”

: “Yeah my bet’s still on him being involved with the end of the world, somehow, honestly.”

: “Me? It didn’t even use Unua’s name.”

: “I did noticed it used his Title… but… you didn’t even get that. You’re just a smudge.”

: “In a different color, even.”

: “Also I don’t know man, you made this. It’s even got all the letters in there: ‘a’, double-you, ‘a’– wait I already said ‘a’–, ‘e’, ‘o’, ‘n’, and then ‘k’ in Clockwork Knight.”

: “It’s got all my letters but can’t put them together in the right order!”

: “…Are you not just seeing an ink smudge where “The Awoken“ should be?”

: “I am seeing that, yeah. I’m complaining that it clearly knows all the requisite letters but is being insolent!”

: “Oh. Yeah. Yeah! It’s weird. Fascinating, really.”

: “It’s not like trying to say ‘Awoken’ but comes out as ‘La-li-lu-le-lo’ or something.”

: “Just straight up not even making the effort, yeah.”

: “Well. So long as I’m the only one, it should be pretty easy to sus that out. It’s even in my favorite color!” He pauses. “Although… I guess someone could forge my name with a cup of ink, but I don’t think that’s actually how this works… or COULD work…”

: “It fills it in automatically yeah, though there’s space in the margins to leave a comment about your trip if you really wanna use the pen.”

: “Well okay, let me just–“ He picks up the pen and attempts to write ‘Awoken’ over the ink smudges.

: “…In the margin… though actually yeah I guess might as well test trying to scribble over the entry first.”

: “Pah, just making it worse. Okay, fine–“ He starts writing in the margins where his name should be: ‘Awoken’ ‘Awoken again’

: “They struck your name from official records, huh? Don’t think it was the Sage at least, they seem to have no problem with you.”

: “Yeah, it’s looking more like 999,999 out of a million chances of me being around.”

does, in fact, reach over to try and see what happens when attempting to scribble over the azure blob, then normal names, then writes ‘lol ok i think it works’ in the margin.

: “Smudges on official entries, freedom in the margins. Duly noted. Hard to tamper with. Damn I’m good.”

: “Also agreed on the odds, you are seeming a lot more lode baring as we go.”

: “Okay, test number three. Hold the pen.” He then takes hold of Aurelius’ hand holding the pen and presses it to paper.

writes HELLO first then lets Awoken take control.

writes WORLD with a heart after it after assuming direct control.

: “…It’s on to your bullshit.”

: “Keep trying for perfection, Aury!”

: “I mean honestly it beating us at this game is perfection from where I’m sitting, we don’t want people to be able to beat it.”

: “Ah yeah I guess that conversation hadn’t finished yet, either.”

releases his hand.

: “Hm?”

rocks his head back and forth. “I hadn’t started it proper yet, either, so I’m a bit ahead of the game. But here, I’ll start.”

: “Oh yeah there was still one other thing too but go ahead I guess.”

: “Both you and Salme are big on memories. At least, to me, regarding of me, she has shown that they are joyous things, of passionate swelling and struggle against despondence. Yet, still hopeful, and greatly cherished.”

: “They’re beautiful, truly and wholly so, in all their experience.”

touches the bluejay charm below his collar as he continues to talk.

: “And here… you’ve both created a place to store and summon them, to be shared with those within- and that you hold them so strongly in reverence and believe that it is as unconsious as breathing. And they’re something you want to protect- making these wards, ensuring only those trusted could be a part of them.”

: “Prepared, and ready, should our memories ever be used to harm us.”

: “Both of those sets of memories, however formed, could never hurt me.”

: “If the joy is true and the heart bears no lies, they would be a strength that could lash gods to the rocks as they are swallowed by a nothingness they created and fear to tread upon.”

: “I don’t see my lack or loss of memories as a weakness. I don’t see myself as less than whoever I was. Maybe it’s because I can’t? Or maybe that’s just how I’m broken, in a precise- one-in-a-billion way, that impossibly fits where I am and what I need to be.”

: “Uh…”

: “It’s okay. I know sometimes we need to (rotate) around things a bit first.” He winks.

scratches behind his head. “…Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable… somehow…?”

chuckles, but it’s not for very long. “It’s part of what makes you interesting. I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable.”

: “It’s all just so… very interesting.”

: “Ah. Well. I’ll admit something when you really get going I tend to feel like the point gets lost somewhere along the way but… well. I duno. Did I accidentally imply you were lesser for nor remembering? Definitely didn’t mean to.”

: “Nah. You showed me what you think about memories and what they mean to you.”

: “I don’t have a larger point, only a differing, personal one.”

: “I see… I think.”

: “Which sort of brings us around to the big guy again. The Architect.”

: “Do you remember what I said, about the idea of repairing worlds?”

: “Pretend I either don’t and that you see why memories are important or I don’t and value the transient nature of the now and am comfortable not temembering.”

: “Before we went into the portal to vanquish whatever fiends were encroaching upon Santuary, I said-“ He takes a few steps back, sets his shoulders square and his eyes straight ahead, focusing on a memory, rather than anything in the room.

: “I only remember the feeling of home. And I believe in myself to make that once more. But I don’t guarantee it’ll be what anyone expects.”

nods slowly.

relaxes, looking back up at Aurelius. “If the Architect had a carefully construted plan, do you think he wants to slot some wild card in that mess? And if so- to what end?”

: “You plan for unknown variables, not put them into your battle regimen.”

: “Unless, the plan isn’t for a battle, but something else.”

: “You think it was his plan for the Omniclast to bust a hole into reality and drop us into the void before they got into a fight about it… for show…?”

: “That? No. But I think it’s equally possible we’d end up on the grounds of Almachadta one way or another, or maybe he’d send us somewhere else first.”

: “If there is a larger plan- which I still think there is, it’s not along the lines with which we are thinking.”

: “Hmm…”

: “I mean, he clearly can’t control for everything.”

: “Not sure I buy it? His ‘lets make it over from scratch’ vibes felt very loud to me, personally? But I guess I can see it. I’m also not gunna be the hard one to convince, either.”

: “Perhaps. And I don’t really plan on convincing many, if any, because our plan has still been to save our worlds.”

: “Fair enough.”

: “Even a king can fall prey to checkmate by pawns. And in that, we are all pieces on the battlefield.”

: “But that he is still only a king, matters. Somehow.”

mouths the words ‘turn the chess board around’ to no one in particular.

: “You can even make a king move in ways they don’t want if you’re strategic enough.” His grin is sinister and scheming.

: “Mmm. Hence the need for security. Not because they’re memories per se, but because they’re knowledge, and every bit you have that the other guy doesn’t enables better strategies.”

mouths the words ‘he’s doing it again!’ to someone in particular, but it’s not Aurelius.

: “What? What’d I do?”

: “Expressed your desire to protect and prepare!”

: “Which, speaking of-“

: “I am now, and have always, been a protector of my people.” He gives Awoken a strange look.

‘s stance relaxes, his shoulders carry differently, his eyes slightly narrow, and speaks with a tenor that makes it very obvious that he is doing an Aurelius impression-

: “Did you two seriously fuck before we jumped into the library?”*

: “No?”

: “She was a different kind of exhausted, if you saw us last night.”

giggles. “I didn’t, but I had other context clues.”

: “Yeah I don’t imagine she’s gunna sleep alone from here out if she has her way, so makes sense.”

: “Cold it would be were we to hamper that desire. I’m counting on us!”

nods slightly.

raises a fist for a fist bump.

rolls his head around his shoulders, takes a deep breath and straightens himself upright. Then. Performs the Sacred Fist Bump And Secret Hand Shake.