Post-Event Blues

[lucetimods]

Who: Everybody, everybody!
What: The battle is won. Now what?
When: The eleventh, twelfth, and onward
Where: Luceti
Summary: With Zompano dead and the cultists routed, Luceti is restored. Kind of.
Rating: F for Feels

On the eleventh, things were slowly breaking down. Memories of their true lives were breaking through. The village, scarred by the battle with the cultists, began to rebuild itself. Community buildings that had vanished were returned to their rightful places. The battle dome was uncovered from the earth that had covered it. Hundreds and hundreds of fake homes slowly faded away. Paved roads gave way to trees and grass. It was an incredible sight for anyone who was willing to sit aroun and watch it happen.

Things wouldn't be easy for the villagers, though. The memories perpetuated by the last ten days would not be easily removed. The feelings and hatreds it had created would take time to conquer and remove. Perhaps, in a way, that was Zompano's nastiest trick of all. The village itself may heal from his invasion, but it would take far more than a few Shifts to fix the people left behind.

Towards the end of the day, their wings returned. Much like some of the buildings, they seemed to just reappear, as if they had never been gone. Their barcodes became visible again as a singular reminder that they were, ultimately, just the property of another entity who as a whole were not much better than Count Zompano.

By the twelfth, the village looked as though nothing had ever happened. Sure, the contents of buildings might have been messed up or destroyed during the battles, but things were otherwise as they were supposed to be. The night before, people would have had to find their old beds to go sleep in, as they no longer possessed the old ones granted to them in another life.

The village was peaceful.

Modly Note: That wraps up the event. As noted in the prose above, you have the option to play up the after effects of the event more than in other ones. While it won't have the same impact universally, the Shift was constructed in such a way that people may have difficulty shaking off the emotions they developed during the event. In effect, it was a cruel send off to Luceti so they would have to deal with the loathing and hatred that came with the less desirable parts of it. Of course, that means the feelings of familial bonds will also persist for awhile as well. It's up to you, as players, to decide how much or little to play with it!

Comments

[endgames]

Yeah, but not at you. I got enough problems. I don't need to direct them at the wrong place.

[alloys]

Think I deserve it. [ What had he said - something he really regretted, wasn't it? Something he couldn't take back. His gaze hardens on Shikamaru as he tries to place the memory. ]

[endgames]

[Quietly:] You're not my father.

[And he wishes that when he'd draw up memories to replace the fake ones that there'd be more shogi games. More watching his father's back and feeling so proud, as he had since he was two-years-old.

(what surfaces is the whistle of a bomb in the sky; his father's voice in his head over the telepathic link before static

walks home from school, when he was too embarrassed to let his dad hold his hand)

Even if you were, that wouldn't change it. I was an emotional little shit, playing grown up like you said. I didn't know where I was coming from.

[alloys]

[ That hurts. He isn't even sure why, but it hurts. He's not Shikamaru's dad, but his is. Both can't be true, but in his head, they are. ]

I didn't mean that.

[endgames]

Yeah. Well I do.

[He breaks eye contact, looking for a place to sit. Hooking his ankle around a chair leg, he tugs it closer to him and falls back into it.]

It was the truth.

[alloys]

But -

[ But what? The details of that conversation evade him. He blinks, glancing around, as something suddenly occurs to him. ]

...why am I in the hospital?

[endgames]

[It's a subject change he's grateful for, and he slouches some in his seat.]

There was an accident. They didn't tell me all the details. [He waves his fingers.] But you're going to be okay.

[alloys]

[ That sounds familiar, like he's heard it before, in the patient, enduring voice of Pepper. ]

Loki crashed his car. Not me. [ Accident accident accident - ]

Shit, I don't remember anything.

[endgames]

[There was a car crash? Briefly Shikamaru wonders if that's what the cops-- the Cultists had taken him in for, but Tony had looked fine at the time.]

Relax, and it'll come to you. You remember a car crash. You remember who I am, and your name. That isn't nothing. Right?

[alloys]

It isn't nothing. [ It's easy to agree to. ] But it isn't much.

[endgames]

That's because you're not thinking of everything else you remember. [A smirk.] I thought I told you to relax.

[alloys]

I am relaxed. Look - too exhausted to even sit up all the way. I'm as relaxed as I'll ever be.

[endgames]

In your head, you twit. [But he could stand to be more helpful.] Here, I'll help. Memories aren't big, like boulders, they're small. A handful of pebbles, that make up something bigger.

[Metaphors probably aren't good at a time like this, huh? He bows his head, and hopes that made a fraction of sense.]

Try thinking back to something small first. A color, or a noise. The last thing you ate, maybe.

[alloys]

[ Eating felt like weeks ago, even if realistically, he knew that wasn't true. But there was something. Something in the middle of everything that didn't make sense that he latched onto. ]

It smelled like coffee.

[endgames]

[More than any of the other senses, smells are strongly tied to memory. It doesn't surprise him that that came first.]

Fresh?

[If it's fresh, it would be a strong smell. There'd also be someone who made the coffee. It opens a whole window to circumstances, really.]

[alloys]

Fresh. [ But that didn't tell him much. He had coffee all the time. All the time. ]

[endgames]

Okay. [Rather than voice his earlier thoughts, he thinks he'll try to direct Tony on a different angle. Small things first.] So a morning cup of coffee.

[Routines will be easier to remember anyways. Tony will correct him if that doesn't sound right.]

[alloys]

...Not sure. I sorta drink coffee whenever the hell I want to. [ He pauses, trying to track down the scent memory again. ] I think it was, though.

[endgames]

What makes you say that?

[alloys]

Gut feeling. [ Honestly, that's all he's got. ]

[endgames]

All right. I can trust a gut feeling.

[alloys]

[ He lifts a shoulder. ] That's all I've got. That's the whole memory.

[endgames]

Mm. Give yourself some credit. That's not bad for someone who would've lost to a carrot yesterday, in a contest of interesting conversation.

[alloys]

Have you ever tried talking to a carrot? I'm sure they've...got lots to say.

[endgames]

[It sounds like he's getting tired again. Shikamaru reaches into a pocket and fumbles around for something.]

More interesting than a billionaire playboy philanthropist? Jeez. Maybe I should ditch you to hang out in a garden.