In this photo, three children smile happily in a grassy park, each wearing a flower crown. One is a young girl with long black hair wearing a pink shirt and skirt. One is a young boy with blond hair and a flower tucked into his green overalls. The last is a teenaged girl with long black hair and a purple shirt, carefully setting the flower crown atop the boy’s head as the younger girl looks on joyfully.
A blink, and the gentle rustle of leaves greet characters who tumble into this particular photo, a ghostly clearing around a pond appearing before them. A gaggle of children sit on a white and red checkered blanket, a hefty picnic basket emptied of all the delicious food and snacks that once laid inside, and three of the youngest - a girl with a bow, a boy in an orange tank-top, and a black-haired boy all sleep off the food and excitement of the day in a comfortable nap. A brown dog continues to play, snuffling at the grass and hanging around the kids. There’s a hazy quality to it, as though remembered from the point of view of someone half-dozing.
The eldest boy remarks gently, “Hmm... It looks like everyone fell asleep.” The orange tank-top kid sleeping in his lap is clearly his younger brother.
“I guess it’s just us three now,” agrees the young blond boy, a flower crown in his hair.
“Everyone must be feeling sleepy after such a big meal,” the eldest girl replies, the girl with a bow dozing in her own lap while the black haired boy who resembles her so sleeps next to her.
The flower-crowned kid looks gratefully towards the elder boy. “Thank you for cooking for all of us, Hero”
“Aww, it was nothing... I’m just practicing a little. I’m glad you all liked it.”
“One day, you’re going to be a world-famous chef and you’re going to cook me lots of yummy food!” the eldest girl bursts out cheerfully, leaving Hero shocked.
“Huh? Wait! I am!?”
“Of course you are! I believe in you, Hero!”
“Well... If you say so.” Hero remains flushed, embarrassed by the idea. Meanwhile, the blond boy snaps a picture of the candid scene, and the click of the shutter does not go unnoticed by the girl.
“I’m glad you’re using your camera more now, Basil. You seem to be enjoying your new hobby.”
Basil smiles over his camera. “Yeah! I guess it’s pretty fun once you get the hang of it.” As the polaroid prints, he shakes it out, peeking at it as the image takes form. “W-Wait a sec... There’s something strange in this photo...” He sniffs tentatively at the air, and...
“Hector! How could you!?” The dog barks, its stinky present in the corner of the photo, much to Basil’s dismay.
The kids continue to chatter, the black-haired boy rousing enough to join in. Hero asks him - Sunny - if he thinks Hero should pursue cooking, since it’s something he loves and something that Mari says he’s good at. But his parents want him to be a doctor... Mari apologizes gently for waking Sunny, and Basil whines that the photo’s been ruined thanks to Hector’s poop, wondering if he can cover it up with tape.
It’s a peaceful scene, of carefree days, of carefree kids. And yet...
There’s the sound of paper tearing, and a dark rift appears in the very air as the scene freezes, the scene once more only a photo - a photo that the characters are still very much stuck in, as that tear slowly begins to grow and grow...
And then, a familiar girl steps through, though her coloration is strangely faded - like a polaroid photo left in the sun. Still, this doesn’t stop her from leveling her nailbat at the scene before her.
It doesn’t matter anymore... None of it does.
She swings her bat, and another tear appears in the air itself, accompanied by a horrendous ripping sound.
[It's something she never had as a kid, and Kainé feels something stirring in her chest at the sight of the picnic, sleepy and welcoming.
The good news is this ain't about her, and all of her focus is on the girl tearing through the picture with her nailbat.]
Yeah, fine, I get it. It hurts like hell to lose happiness, doesn't it? [It seems like whatever smiles were captured in those pictures were replaced with anger. She closes her hand loosely into a fist and takes a step closer.]
... But aren't you being kind of a little bitch? [Even for Kainé, this seems harsh and out of nowhere, but she isn't done speaking quite yet. Unfortunately - or fortunately - this is her method of empathetic intervention, keener on forcibly startling sense back in.] Gonna throw the rest of it out, too, like you don't care about what you had?
[It isn't an experience Richard has ever had either-- the closest approximation his mind can draw up is when he'd taken Asbel and the others to see the scenery outside of Barona, the verdant green of the grass and the endless blue sky above. But there had been no picnic then, no warmth and laughter, and for a moment Richard finds he can't help but wonder what it would be like to have that kind of easy peace.
In a way, it's a good thing he doesn't get much of a chance to dwell on it.]
And so you're going to break everything else, is that it?
[There's an edge of bitterness to his voice, but not for the reason she and Kainé might suspect. No, he understands those feelings quite well, because he's much the same way, after all...]
Destroy everything you have left so that you can pretend you never had it in the first place?
[Sometimes ripping somebody a new one gets through to them. Sometimes it takes a little wailing on them.
So when Aubrey(?) takes a crack at Richard, Kainé retaliates with a swing of her own (12), though it's more of a softball. Hell, if mods allow non-weapon attacks, it's just straight up a right hook. Gonna keep raging, Aubrey?]
Why's that, huh? If you threw them out, they must've really pissed you off. I guess you hate their guts now, is that it?
[Not that we can't also keep up the ripping method.]
[For all that he's even got his rapier in his hand, the girl is faster than his ability to react with it. It's all he can do to throw his left arm up instead to catch the full brunt of the blow (and oh, that hurts, and he can't help the hiss of pain that escapes as the nails dig through fabric and into skin beneath), staggering backwards from the force of the impact.
He'd been trying to approach this with a bit of delicacy, but you know what? He's not in the mood for that anymore.]
And so you're taking your anger out on us instead, is that it? I'm sorry, but I don't recall agreeing to be an outlet for that.
[Now he does ready his rapier, lunging forward with the intent to stab in retaliation (2).
[ This — all of this — is familiar in ways Maika didn't want to think about right now. But when she'd faced down her lost memories, she did it with three of the people she loved best at her side. And she still nearly tore herself to pieces. What the fuck is she supposed to do here, for a stranger? Help that shadow shred something precious?
She makes to cuff the shadow with the back of her one hand (4), but with no force and no convinction, her aim is terrible. ]
So because they're gone, what... you'll just throw them away yourself? Easier than looking your own grief and regrets in the eye, isn't it? Punish the people around you instead. Punish yourself. Maybe someday it'll hurt enough that you can't feel the rest of it... That's the perfect escape. If you're a coward, that is.
[She definitely didn't expect the impact to feel like punching paper, and she stumbles out a little bit from the impact. Maybe it also makes it easier, feeling like the thing on the other side of her blows isn't human. But the pain looks real. Paper Aubrey(?) can have another uppercut (19).]
Get started! What's the deal with that asshole? Start yapping, and maybe you'll convince us you didn't want us to put your shit back together for you after all! Or maybe I'll trash this other picture I found and help you out, huh?
[Team tough love is really over here taking an extremely very much different approach from the others.]
[Ouch. This all hurts in ways far beyond just his arm, yet ironically that only serves to fuel his own anger. Why is she so surprised that her friends left? People are only friends for as long as it is convenient for them... that much Richard understands well now.]
Such is the way of things. I'm surprised it took you this long to learn.
[Once again he darts forward, this time swinging the rapier from above in a swift arc (14) rather than trying to stab. He learned his lesson from the last attempt.]
And now you're going to roll over and give up rather than keep on going.
Between the two attacks, her form tears apart, her eyes wide in shock.
Aubrey(?) opens her mouth to say something, but it takes a moment before anything comes out.
“...
I just... wanted to see us happy again. But...
It was never going to happen. It isn’t the same anymore. ...It’ll never go back to the way it was.”
Her form buzzes with static, before fading away into shadows. In her wake, a single item is left behind:
Daisy: Cute as a hair ornament. Wearing this will attract Aubrey’s attention, for better or for worse.
The rips in the photo remain, however - looking closely, there seems to be a room beyond the tear. And, thanks to all of the fighting, it should now be big enough for everyone to slip through. But before they do, characters may note that the light seems to shine on a nearby picnic basket set upon the grass. Inside are yummy sandwiches that couldn’t have been there before - anyone who pauses takes a bite will find their health and SP restored to full.
[ Maika stares at the space left by the phantom Aubrey before stooping to pick up the daisy in careful fingertips. It's probably not as fragile as it looks — things like this couldn't linger if it were — but just this once, she doesn't want to break everything she touches. ]
You can't. The past is already gone. You just get to decide if you're strong enough to move forward or not.
[ And she, of all people, can't promise that there'll be happiness in another form at the end of that. But she tosses a quick look at Kainé and Richard. ]
...Let's get moving. Looks like we haven't reached the end of this road yet, either.
[Richard merely nods his assent. He has nothing to say to any of this, not when the same worries and wishes swirl within the depths of his own heart. To speak otherwise would be hypocrisy and he knows it.
In a way, he's glad he doesn't have to try to answer her any longer. He wonders whether she'll be able to find what she sought in whatever place she may be now, whatever form her existence may take.
But in the end, none of that is really ultimately any of his concern.]
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FLOWER CROWNS
They look like they’re having so much fun...
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They really do look like they're having fun. What else does it look like in this picture?]
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A blink, and the gentle rustle of leaves greet characters who tumble into this particular photo, a ghostly clearing around a pond appearing before them. A gaggle of children sit on a white and red checkered blanket, a hefty picnic basket emptied of all the delicious food and snacks that once laid inside, and three of the youngest - a girl with a bow, a boy in an orange tank-top, and a black-haired boy all sleep off the food and excitement of the day in a comfortable nap. A brown dog continues to play, snuffling at the grass and hanging around the kids. There’s a hazy quality to it, as though remembered from the point of view of someone half-dozing.
The eldest boy remarks gently, “Hmm... It looks like everyone fell asleep.” The orange tank-top kid sleeping in his lap is clearly his younger brother.
“I guess it’s just us three now,” agrees the young blond boy, a flower crown in his hair.
“Everyone must be feeling sleepy after such a big meal,” the eldest girl replies, the girl with a bow dozing in her own lap while the black haired boy who resembles her so sleeps next to her.
The flower-crowned kid looks gratefully towards the elder boy. “Thank you for cooking for all of us, Hero”
“Aww, it was nothing... I’m just practicing a little. I’m glad you all liked it.”
“One day, you’re going to be a world-famous chef and you’re going to cook me lots of yummy food!” the eldest girl bursts out cheerfully, leaving Hero shocked.
“Huh? Wait! I am!?”
“Of course you are! I believe in you, Hero!”
“Well... If you say so.” Hero remains flushed, embarrassed by the idea. Meanwhile, the blond boy snaps a picture of the candid scene, and the click of the shutter does not go unnoticed by the girl.
“I’m glad you’re using your camera more now, Basil. You seem to be enjoying your new hobby.”
Basil smiles over his camera. “Yeah! I guess it’s pretty fun once you get the hang of it.” As the polaroid prints, he shakes it out, peeking at it as the image takes form. “W-Wait a sec... There’s something strange in this photo...” He sniffs tentatively at the air, and...
“Hector! How could you!?” The dog barks, its stinky present in the corner of the photo, much to Basil’s dismay.
The kids continue to chatter, the black-haired boy rousing enough to join in. Hero asks him - Sunny - if he thinks Hero should pursue cooking, since it’s something he loves and something that Mari says he’s good at. But his parents want him to be a doctor... Mari apologizes gently for waking Sunny, and Basil whines that the photo’s been ruined thanks to Hector’s poop, wondering if he can cover it up with tape.
It’s a peaceful scene, of carefree days, of carefree kids. And yet...
There’s the sound of paper tearing, and a dark rift appears in the very air as the scene freezes, the scene once more only a photo - a photo that the characters are still very much stuck in, as that tear slowly begins to grow and grow...
And then, a familiar girl steps through, though her coloration is strangely faded - like a polaroid photo left in the sun. Still, this doesn’t stop her from leveling her nailbat at the scene before her.
It doesn’t matter anymore... None of it does.
She swings her bat, and another tear appears in the air itself, accompanied by a horrendous ripping sound.
It’s already broken.
It means nothing now.
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The good news is this ain't about her, and all of her focus is on the girl tearing through the picture with her nailbat.]
Yeah, fine, I get it. It hurts like hell to lose happiness, doesn't it? [It seems like whatever smiles were captured in those pictures were replaced with anger. She closes her hand loosely into a fist and takes a step closer.]
... But aren't you being kind of a little bitch? [Even for Kainé, this seems harsh and out of nowhere, but she isn't done speaking quite yet. Unfortunately - or fortunately - this is her method of empathetic intervention, keener on forcibly startling sense back in.] Gonna throw the rest of it out, too, like you don't care about what you had?
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In a way, it's a good thing he doesn't get much of a chance to dwell on it.]
And so you're going to break everything else, is that it?
[There's an edge of bitterness to his voice, but not for the reason she and Kainé might suspect. No, he understands those feelings quite well, because he's much the same way, after all...]
Destroy everything you have left so that you can pretend you never had it in the first place?
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[She takes a swing at Richard - and hits (14)]
The smiling kids you see in these photos... They don't exist. Not anymore.
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So when Aubrey(?) takes a crack at Richard, Kainé retaliates with a swing of her own (12), though it's more of a softball. Hell, if mods allow non-weapon attacks, it's just straight up a right hook. Gonna keep raging, Aubrey?]
Why's that, huh? If you threw them out, they must've really pissed you off. I guess you hate their guts now, is that it?
[Not that we can't also keep up the ripping method.]
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He'd been trying to approach this with a bit of delicacy, but you know what? He's not in the mood for that anymore.]
And so you're taking your anger out on us instead, is that it? I'm sorry, but I don't recall agreeing to be an outlet for that.
[Now he does ready his rapier, lunging forward with the intent to stab in retaliation (2).
... it's not very effective.]
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It still definitely seems to hurt, though, because Aubrey(?) doubles over.]
...Obviously. Every single one of them left.
Mari's dead. Hero's left town, Kel's got new friends, and Sunny locked himself up for four years. And don't even get me started on Basil.
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She makes to cuff the shadow with the back of her one hand (4), but with no force and no convinction, her aim is terrible. ]
So because they're gone, what... you'll just throw them away yourself? Easier than looking your own grief and regrets in the eye, isn't it? Punish the people around you instead. Punish yourself. Maybe someday it'll hurt enough that you can't feel the rest of it... That's the perfect escape. If you're a coward, that is.
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[She definitely didn't expect the impact to feel like punching paper, and she stumbles out a little bit from the impact. Maybe it also makes it easier, feeling like the thing on the other side of her blows isn't human. But the pain looks real. Paper Aubrey(?) can have another uppercut (19).]
Get started! What's the deal with that asshole? Start yapping, and maybe you'll convince us you didn't want us to put your shit back together for you after all! Or maybe I'll trash this other picture I found and help you out, huh?
[Team tough love is really over here taking an extremely very much different approach from the others.]
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Such is the way of things. I'm surprised it took you this long to learn.
[Once again he darts forward, this time swinging the rapier from above in a swift arc (14) rather than trying to stab. He learned his lesson from the last attempt.]
And now you're going to roll over and give up rather than keep on going.
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Aubrey(?) opens her mouth to say something, but it takes a moment before anything comes out.
“...
I just... wanted to see us happy again. But...
It was never going to happen. It isn’t the same anymore. ...It’ll never go back to the way it was.”
Her form buzzes with static, before fading away into shadows. In her wake, a single item is left behind:
Daisy: Cute as a hair ornament. Wearing this will attract Aubrey’s attention, for better or for worse.
The rips in the photo remain, however - looking closely, there seems to be a room beyond the tear. And, thanks to all of the fighting, it should now be big enough for everyone to slip through. But before they do, characters may note that the light seems to shine on a nearby picnic basket set upon the grass. Inside are yummy sandwiches that couldn’t have been there before - anyone who pauses takes a bite will find their health and SP restored to full.
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You can't. The past is already gone. You just get to decide if you're strong enough to move forward or not.
[ And she, of all people, can't promise that there'll be happiness in another form at the end of that. But she tosses a quick look at Kainé and Richard. ]
...Let's get moving. Looks like we haven't reached the end of this road yet, either.
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In a way, he's glad he doesn't have to try to answer her any longer. He wonders whether she'll be able to find what she sought in whatever place she may be now, whatever form her existence may take.
But in the end, none of that is really ultimately any of his concern.]