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

[godbent]

[Oh ... She does stand and does follow. She notices the pause, but then shrugs it out, and she'll just follow on inside when it comes time to go in]

[wise_maiden]

[A brief but chilling memory. Raine's orange and white cat is at the door to greet them, having been allowed some freedom of the house after the confusion of the previous week. She nearly trips Raine up in her bid for attention.]

--! Lia, please. I'll sit with you later.

[godbent]

[Oh, a cat. Cute? A little cute. You don't go to pet cats though, so Haruhi refrains and just waves at it. Smiling. Which does feel a little frutiless, but whatever]

We're going to be sitting anyway. Probably.

[wise_maiden]

Indeed. Would you like to sit in the living room? I can just bring the pitcher out there. Unless we don't have any ready... I'm honestly not sure. [She hadn't been in the house for over a week, after all, though Albert had already said that he had been still living there before being removed... ]

[godbent]

Alright, fine by me. [She really should have brought something. Making sure that he shoes are kicked off then, she'll make her way on into the living room. She'll try to lead the cat over there but doesn't put a lot of effort into it. She just pats Raine on the shoulder, thinks about how odd that was, and then makes her way to sit and wait]

[wise_maiden]

[The cat mostly had remained where it was - starting to go after Raine but then stopping, finally, at the entrance of the dining room, and then meandered her way to the living room to keep a watchful - almost wary - eye on Haruhi as she wasn't too accustomed to visitors.]

It was odd, but still felt oddly natural, in the face of things... which probably added to it's oddness. For now, Raine ducks into the kitchen, perhaps mildly glad for the short reprieve, but then again... maybe not. They had been good friends, even if that was all ... unreal but maybe it did provide the pathway to a start that might have not really been possible. The girl - well, she was a woman now, really - and maybe that, too, was harder to reconcile, something like the way she had seen Lloyd grow up. Everyone was growing older, and she ... well. Best not to think of that either.

Instead she gets the pitcher for the lemonade and - well, it never ends up quite right but she's had the years now, to practice it. She adds just a little hint of mint in there. Something different. And of course the lemons. It doesn't take too long - making it from scratch is kind of relaxing in it's own way, and soon she's stepping back the living room with the pitcher and two cups on a platter that she sets down on the coffee table.]

[godbent]

[Haruhi... well, she'd been thinking about it the whole way coming to here which is why while she's sitting here she tries not to think, it'd be pointless. ...She still does, though. Raine had been her teacher, her sensei and generally someone who she had thought of as "older" - and she still is! Older, that is. But right now, she's twenty-one years old and she has memories of going to high school with the woman. Even if it was a lie, the fact is that they are women near(?)ish in age...

And... then she's back. Okay. Awesome. She's not sure if she should pour herself or let Raine do it though so she hesitate.]

[wise_maiden]

[She moves to pour them herself, offering one of the glasses to the other woman. There's ice as well, to keep it cool.]

Here you go - sorry for the wait.

[godbent]

It's fine - I really did arrive unannounced and all.

[But she takes it all the same, spinning the cup slightly to see the ice move]

[wise_maiden]

[And it was strange, thinking - this was the sort of thing they did often, in that other life. Sat around and relaxed, while talking, or working. A lot of working, in her case. Even now, those designs still held fast in her mind, but they were never really hers, were they?]

Well, I usually like to have lemonade in the house anyway. It's a good summer drink. [A good anytime drink, really.]

[godbent]

Oh, really? It is, so that makes sense.

[And she nods at this, finally taking her first sip. Huh, there's a hint of something in this]

[wise_maiden]

Is there anything you usually prefer? [Right now with this lingering haze Raine almost doesn't feel like she knows much about her aside from things that may have come up in class or in their fake lives. Though there had been other things...]

[godbent]

Nah, this is excellent. [To prove it, she even makes another sip]

I'm Japanese, so it really should be 'tea' but it's too hot for that right now.

[wise_maiden]

Well for that, tea over ice might suffice.

[godbent]

Oh yeah, I know. I've actually got a few brews for that sort of thing, even.

[She'd gotten so domestic here in Luceti but then... you can't feel everything in a strange world with strangeness, it would just be redundant.]

[wise_maiden]

Albert's made a few as well. [But then again, he works in the tea shop.] Either way, it's a relaxing beverage. Especially after all the work in the garden.

[godbent]

Hey, no objections here - this would be good after a run too.

[wise_maiden]

Indeed. I'll admit I haven't been running as much as I should, with how this summer has been. Not that every day isn't a walk anyway. [In that other life, she did notably walk everywhere even before Hershel's promised driving lessons.]

[godbent]

Personally, I run every day. [In this and the other world. ...Though she wasn't as strictly diligent about it in the other world] I guess it just became a habit here... it's not like everyone doesn't get exercise enough walking everywhere though, like you said.

[wise_maiden]

Well, when you're limited in your options... although honestly it's almost refreshing to have the village back to the way it was. Coming down from that, it's eerie just how developed everything had been ... there aren't enough of us here to warrant that sort of city.

[godbent]

Realistically, yeah, there isn't. [That said... she wouldn't mind some of it again. She's not sure how much of it is ghost memories, but she did enjoy those country clubs she went to since she made it rich and the competition of a business which actually used money. Driving....]

[wise_maiden]

[She prefers the simpler style; it reminds her of Sylvarant in a way, despite the newer upgrades it had received, making it an odd mesh of cultures.

But that, she thought, was dangerous thinking. She shouldn't want to prefer anything about this place, after all, no matter how many years it had been.

She sips at her drink thoughtfully as she contemplates that. It's a nice, companionable silence, all but broken by the cat's desire for her attention again, as she hops up next to Raine, nuzzling her arm.]

[godbent]

[She thinks about it some herself, but mostly she ends up shrugging it off with a long sip, emptying her mind and letting it wander a little. No need to focus on the driving. She tends up focusing on the cat, and watches it nuzzle on Raine's arm.

... Nah. No need to fixate on that. So instead, she arches her eyebrow and]

Do you manage your hair yourself?

[wise_maiden]

[That was an unexpected question. She blinks, looking back up at her.] Yes, I always have. Why do you ask?

[godbent]

Well, it looks nice. [She ends up brushing some of her (now admittedly getting pretty long) hair at her sides and frowns a little-] When Shiki was here, the two of us managed each other's, usually. Now, mine's a little too long, I think.