[MU] - FEELING LIKE A GHOST (PART II)

[lifeaftr_mods]

"No, no...no!"

The Storyteller's voice cuts through the inkdrop-dark, frantic and scrambling. A distant blot of campfire gutters in the far distance - far from where you are. The disorientation of the week preceding this one has translated into Mu, and everything is hopelessly out of place. The Storyteller sounds muffled, clearly addressing someone or something else, their voice cushioned by the uniform, void-like night.

"Stop it. Stop it! I wasn't gone for very long at all. You can't behave for two weeks? You have to make it all...all...wrong? I can't keep this up - not with what I've had to do since returning - !"

Gradually, however, the shadowy campsite solidifies into being. Or...a semblance of it does, in any case. Four glistening pyres rear out from the shadows, each glowing a different color. The strange material that domes them almost resembles worked steel, forming different patterns against their multicolored backdrops.

[ ♆ ] The first glows a deep crimson, kicking scarlet embers into the dream-night air. Its pit sphere portrays a crowd of people in silhouette, heads bowed in genuflection - paying homage to some looping, many-coiled shape in the sky above.

[ ♆ ] The second glows a deep orange. Its pit sphere is worked into the shape of a looming mountain, with what might be some sort of village or ruin sprawled at its base.

[ ♆ ] The third's flames are a rich green. Its designs are most abstract; the starburst patterns that swirl across the metallic composition of its fire pit sphere could be explosions, maybe...or something else entirely.

[ ♆ ] The fourth pyre is one bearing host to golden flames, amber sparks sprayed out from behind the shape of a set of scales nestled among a flurry of birdlike shapes.

Beside each pyre is heaped a pile of sticks, colored to correspond to their respective flames. The Storyteller sounds agitated when they manage to speak again:

"Will you let them at least make the choice I left to gave them?" When there is no response, they sigh. "If you can hear me...I can't make it clearer than that, at the moment. Pick one. Pick one, quickly, and try to get out before it decides to make things worse! Just add a stick to whichever one looks best to you!"

Unfortunately, whether you abstain from voting or make your choice, that's not all there is to this night...



Tonight's Storytelling, further warped by Mu's capricious nature, will likely feel familiar to those of you who were with us in December of the year prior. Only this time, you don't get much choice in what kind of story you're telling...or, indeed, any choice in the matter at all. As you wake by the Storytelling campfire, Mu shifts to form three separate events from your character's present - which is to say, within one full year of their current canonpoint - in the most stark and painstaking of detail. There is no altering the memory, nor is there any preventing it once it's begun to play. You will simply have to witness memories that are not your own this go around.

Furthermore, stories that take place in worlds other than LifeAftr will be, frankly, inevitable. Those memories, too, will be recreated, to be relived by the teller and lived by the listener.

---

While the initial setting will be familiar for oldcomers, and newcomers will recognize it from the introduction they received in their dreams, things will be far more similar to the memory share that occurred in December. All memories must be from within one year of your character's canonpoint. For questions, please refer to our OOC event post!

Even those who prefer not to voice their stories aloud are not safe this time around. The memory does not need to be willingly recalled in essence in order for Mu will shift to accommodate it in full.

Just like the last time this happened, all memories will be worth two offerings each, as if in compensation. So at least there's that!

Comments

[savedbyasong]

"Elyurius..." Shion's voice was quiet as he watched the vision fade. It was... so much. He had died. Of course dying was nothing new to Shion, nothing unusual at all. But to die on his own world and be brought back.

How was that even possible? He only knows the answer to Ignis' question because of the futures he had seen in the mirror and the vision he had seen on the floating island. Elyrius. A god. Safu his best friend.

He's caught up in the moment but then he frowns and turned to Ignis. "You saw that?" He could see? Shion notices the flames and moves closer, to see if it is indeed just a trick of the light.

[shatteredlenses]

The name doesn't mean anything to Ignis, but the way Shion says it makes him think of the way people speak of the Astrals--with awe and reverence--so perhaps person is a god of sorts.

He's about to ask for clarification when Shion moves closer and asks his question. Ignis tilts his head slightly in his friend's direction, the flames' glow moving with him. As Shion gets closer, the glow solidifies. It's definitely there and it illuminates his scars--scars that look a lot fresher and more ash-covered than Shion will remember.

"Ah, right. You weren't here for December's storytelling. Something like this happened then too. I'm...blessed with the ability to see the memories, but nothing else. Everything fades back to black once they are done."

[savedbyasong]

"So they can make you see... But they..." They kept him blind. Whatever forces ruled these islands, whatever forces kept them here and caused such things to happen. This wasn't the first time such a story telling had happened. Shion hadn't known that but it added to his anger. They had the power to allow Ignis to see. Shion had seen it before, on the small islands in the sky but such strange things had happened there.

They let him see such pain and yet the rest of the time he was kept in darkness. Shion trembled with rage that they would do such a cruel thing. He still had no idea who they were. A undefined entity that ruled their lives. More powerful than the Story Teller.

"They just..." His fists are clenched at his side. It's too much. Their memories, their futures being shown to everyone. Ignis being forced to see.

[shatteredlenses]

Ignis' expression grows worried when he hears the anger rising in Shion. He recognizes it now when he didn't before and is determined to make sure it doesn't go out of control. Near silently, he moves to Shion's side, putting a comforting hand--solid and warm--on his friend's shoulder.

"Breathe for me, Shion. Slowly, and calm yourself. It's true, many of these things are painful to see, but it is not all bad," he lets a small smile cross his face. "Without December's Storytelling, I wouldn't have known what Soma looked like for many more months. It was what we saw that night and the discussion that followed that allow us to be brave enough to really start our relationship."

And Shion knows well how much Ignis learned from that relationship. Even with how long Soma's been gone, he still holds a place in Ignis's heart.

"None of this is right or fair, but allowing yourself to fall to rage won't change what's happened. Channel that power to keep you moving forward, but don't let it control you."

[savedbyasong]

The hand does a lot to calm him, there's nothing to destroy here. Nothing to hurt. No one here is responsible for the pain that these visions are bringing. Not even the Story Teller.

He takes a breath, turning to press his face into Ignis' side, focusing on his words, trembling with anger. Even if a good thing came out of it, and Shion knows how much Soma meant to Ignis, how much Ignis learned from him, the intention was still to hurt.

But he had to... Move forwards. Breathe. Breathe again. Hands came up to clutch at Ignis' shirt. "I know... Sorry... It's just..."

He knows he doesn't need to explain, even if Ignis hadn't seen him rage on Ai'Tuoh, the vision of him killing, cold and deadly, had been shown to everyone.

[shatteredlenses]

"It's all right," Ignis shifts slightly, not to pull away, but so he can wrap his arms around Shion and hold him close. "As much as people say love and hate are opposites, they are also tied far too closely together, for the things that create the most love within us are also the things we will rage and hate to protect."

As ashamed of the vision as Shion may be, Ignis sees far too much of himself in it to hold it against his friend. In a different setting, that was him facing Ravus, willing to do whatever he had to in order to keep Noctis safe.

Not much later, it was him again, facing Ardyn, only his choice of weapon was not a gun, but a Ring and the collected power of the Lucii.

"As long as we love, the hate and the rage will come. Linger not on the fact that it does; instead remember why it does."

[savedbyasong]

"But... other people love and don't... Aster gets angry. If I get hurt she will fight. But she doesn't lose control. She doesn't..."

Love and hate were closely linked. Rage and love intertwined. He concentrated on breathing, not moving away from Ignis. Letting his touch comfort him.

Remember why it does. Remember why he was angry, perhaps that was the key. To make the love matter more than the rage...

[shatteredlenses]

"Shh... Don't, Shion. Don't compare yourself to her," Ignis rests his chin atop Shion's head using the weight as another way to ground his friend.

"We all handle emotion differently because of our experiences and because of how our minds work. You can't beat yourself up over the fact that you react differently than she does. She wouldn't stand for it and neither will I."

[savedbyasong]

The weight helped, Shion took another breath. Blinking away tears. He didn't want to cry. Not on top of everything else. "I'm sorry." Aster wouldn't like it, she had her own problems. Thing's that she struggled with and Shion never expected her to deal with those the same way as Shion did.

But it was hard to forgive himself in the way he could forgive others. He was a hypocrite. He knew this about himself.