(no subject)
saith the stone break free
Veronica Mars. PG. Lilly-centric; gen. Kicking around in stasis. Written for fluffyllama, with many thanks to thelalaprincess, who is love.
The morning after Lilly died, Veronica dreamt that she was on a boat cutting through the Pacific. That evening, she landed on the shore of a cluster of islands and left everything behind.
*
'And here's the thing: the truth's gonna come out.'
'What are you talking about?'
'Break out of your stupor. Wake up.'
*
When Lilly reached the shallows, there was a group of men waiting for her.
'Where am I?' she shouted. They gave her blank looks; she tried again. 'Where. Am. I?' she said, slowly this time, as though the key to comprehension was speed.
'Wala,' one of them said. 'Ikaw ang mga patay.'
'I don't understand you!' she said. She followed the men as they shuffled into the forest. 'Stop! Stop it! Just tell me where I am!'
'Nawala ka. Patay.' And then he drew a cross in the air for her.
There was a hut for her to sleep. The ceiling was thatched and tended to leak when the rain came, but the windows and doors faced north and away from the sun. In the evenings, she sat outside amid the grass and the earth and the moss and strained her ears until she almost could hear the chortle and gurgle and crash of the water.
*
'Veronica. Come on, dorkus. My God, worst party ever. What are you doing at nerdfest?'
'I had to come back. Something's wrong, they're hiding something.'
*
Her days were mostly peaceful, but on some nights, Lilly woke with a nightmarish urgency. Her heart beat so forcefully that she was afraid it would shatter, and her breath, reeling with sickening possibility, came in bursts of panic. Those nights always shared the same trait: rainy (water coming through the roof), humid (sweat refusing to evaporate) and terrifying ( monsters waiting in her bed).
In the island's mythology, there is a creature they called batibat. She is an old woman who resides in the hollows of trees. At night, she steals away from her home and finds a man or woman on whom she sits. Her body - large and heavy - perches on their chest and she watches as they are paralysed then suffocate. Then, when they die, she returns to her home and waits for night again.
The way to ward off the batibat is to wiggle one's big toe during the throes of bangungot, or nightmares. She will be startled and run away.
Lilly once followed a trail from her hut to another one ten miles down the road. She found a small village and an old woman, whose leathery skin folded and scraped together when she spoke. 'Mayroon batibat nasa loob ng puno,' she said, and indicated a cluster of trees between her house and Lilly's. The old woman pointed to her toe and wiggled it. Lilly understood.
She tried it that evening and it kept the nightmares away. She thought: maybe there is something you can find in the old stories.
*
'I loved Lilly. Maybe if I didn't I'd be able to drop this.'
*
The silence around her was unbearable. Lilly longed for a voice, any voice, to come for her with words she could understand. But every day brought her more quiet and more isolation.
Three hundred and twenty-nine days after she first arrived, Lilly broke down and sobbed into the grass.
When she was done, she ran into the forest towards the water. In her desperation, she waded out as far as she could go, intent on swimming to the other side of the sea, but she never reached the ocean. The shallows kept pulling her back, as though the waves which had bore her here were not yet allowed to let her leave.
The next morning, she followed the path again to the village and saw the old woman who only smiled as if to say, yes, I know this stasis is killing you, but you must hold on.
'Why am I here? Why can't I just go home? You know, home?' she asked, and drew a house in the dirt at the woman's feet. 'To my dad? Donut? My crazy uptight mother? Home? My own bed? My best friend?'
'Patay ka,' the old woman would only say.
'But what does that MEAN?' Lilly screamed, and was dismayed to find more tears, more despair. 'I don't know why I'm here. Why can't I just go? Why can't I leave?'
The old woman touched her shoulder to still her. 'Maghintay.'
*
Seventy-seven days later, Lilly gave up.
*
Lilly Kane died from a cement block to the side of the head. Her brother, Duncan Kane, found her body by the side of the pool, and promptly broke down. His parents found him clutching his sister's dead body, mouth brown from dried blood, eyes empty and vacated. To save their son, they covered it up. Abel Koontz took the fall.
That was the boat which bore Lilly to the shore.
Keith and Veronica Mars didn't believe the neatly-packaged story, and though Keith Mars had given up after Koontz confessed, Veronica didn't. She knew that there was something wrong and pursued it, in spite of alienating Duncan, in spite of earning the wrath and ire of her peers and former friends. Finding Lilly's killer was her sole motivation, her obsession.
That was the shallows that trapped her.
On the evening of the Kane's ball in honour of the governor, Veronica found the tapes Lilly had hidden and whispered the words that set her free.
'I know what happened. I know what happened.'
*
The hut was gone, had collapsed. The air was balmy; the sun shone, but did not burn; the shallows gave way to the ocean.
Lilly waded out until she was neck-deep. She smiled.
Veronica Mars. PG. Lilly-centric; gen. Kicking around in stasis. Written for fluffyllama, with many thanks to thelalaprincess, who is love.
The morning after Lilly died, Veronica dreamt that she was on a boat cutting through the Pacific. That evening, she landed on the shore of a cluster of islands and left everything behind.
*
'And here's the thing: the truth's gonna come out.'
'What are you talking about?'
'Break out of your stupor. Wake up.'
*
When Lilly reached the shallows, there was a group of men waiting for her.
'Where am I?' she shouted. They gave her blank looks; she tried again. 'Where. Am. I?' she said, slowly this time, as though the key to comprehension was speed.
'Wala,' one of them said. 'Ikaw ang mga patay.'
'I don't understand you!' she said. She followed the men as they shuffled into the forest. 'Stop! Stop it! Just tell me where I am!'
'Nawala ka. Patay.' And then he drew a cross in the air for her.
There was a hut for her to sleep. The ceiling was thatched and tended to leak when the rain came, but the windows and doors faced north and away from the sun. In the evenings, she sat outside amid the grass and the earth and the moss and strained her ears until she almost could hear the chortle and gurgle and crash of the water.
*
'Veronica. Come on, dorkus. My God, worst party ever. What are you doing at nerdfest?'
'I had to come back. Something's wrong, they're hiding something.'
*
Her days were mostly peaceful, but on some nights, Lilly woke with a nightmarish urgency. Her heart beat so forcefully that she was afraid it would shatter, and her breath, reeling with sickening possibility, came in bursts of panic. Those nights always shared the same trait: rainy (water coming through the roof), humid (sweat refusing to evaporate) and terrifying ( monsters waiting in her bed).
In the island's mythology, there is a creature they called batibat. She is an old woman who resides in the hollows of trees. At night, she steals away from her home and finds a man or woman on whom she sits. Her body - large and heavy - perches on their chest and she watches as they are paralysed then suffocate. Then, when they die, she returns to her home and waits for night again.
The way to ward off the batibat is to wiggle one's big toe during the throes of bangungot, or nightmares. She will be startled and run away.
Lilly once followed a trail from her hut to another one ten miles down the road. She found a small village and an old woman, whose leathery skin folded and scraped together when she spoke. 'Mayroon batibat nasa loob ng puno,' she said, and indicated a cluster of trees between her house and Lilly's. The old woman pointed to her toe and wiggled it. Lilly understood.
She tried it that evening and it kept the nightmares away. She thought: maybe there is something you can find in the old stories.
*
'I loved Lilly. Maybe if I didn't I'd be able to drop this.'
*
The silence around her was unbearable. Lilly longed for a voice, any voice, to come for her with words she could understand. But every day brought her more quiet and more isolation.
Three hundred and twenty-nine days after she first arrived, Lilly broke down and sobbed into the grass.
When she was done, she ran into the forest towards the water. In her desperation, she waded out as far as she could go, intent on swimming to the other side of the sea, but she never reached the ocean. The shallows kept pulling her back, as though the waves which had bore her here were not yet allowed to let her leave.
The next morning, she followed the path again to the village and saw the old woman who only smiled as if to say, yes, I know this stasis is killing you, but you must hold on.
'Why am I here? Why can't I just go home? You know, home?' she asked, and drew a house in the dirt at the woman's feet. 'To my dad? Donut? My crazy uptight mother? Home? My own bed? My best friend?'
'Patay ka,' the old woman would only say.
'But what does that MEAN?' Lilly screamed, and was dismayed to find more tears, more despair. 'I don't know why I'm here. Why can't I just go? Why can't I leave?'
The old woman touched her shoulder to still her. 'Maghintay.'
*
Seventy-seven days later, Lilly gave up.
*
Lilly Kane died from a cement block to the side of the head. Her brother, Duncan Kane, found her body by the side of the pool, and promptly broke down. His parents found him clutching his sister's dead body, mouth brown from dried blood, eyes empty and vacated. To save their son, they covered it up. Abel Koontz took the fall.
That was the boat which bore Lilly to the shore.
Keith and Veronica Mars didn't believe the neatly-packaged story, and though Keith Mars had given up after Koontz confessed, Veronica didn't. She knew that there was something wrong and pursued it, in spite of alienating Duncan, in spite of earning the wrath and ire of her peers and former friends. Finding Lilly's killer was her sole motivation, her obsession.
That was the shallows that trapped her.
On the evening of the Kane's ball in honour of the governor, Veronica found the tapes Lilly had hidden and whispered the words that set her free.
'I know what happened. I know what happened.'
*
The hut was gone, had collapsed. The air was balmy; the sun shone, but did not burn; the shallows gave way to the ocean.
Lilly waded out until she was neck-deep. She smiled.