Day 56: Magus Park (Morning)

[scintillatingly]

Getting to check up on Neku had been good (even though Sora realized that he was the one who'd been approached, rather than doing the approaching), but when the buses finally made their way through the snow and into the town, the boy was completely distracted by the view that followed. It really did remind him of Christmastown. There were no lights

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[broodings]

So this was Doyleton. The essence of a small town hadn't changed much since the nineteenth century, really, and the business district the bus turned into could've belonged to any town in Virginia... or Kentucky, or Wisconsin, so on and so forth. After so long, one place seemed much the same as any other. Somewhere quiet, exactly the kind of place Damon made a point of avoiding. Somewhere to hide, to rest, to spend the days of his aimless eternity

[loyalrose]

The buses had come to a stop just outside of some little nondescript town. Rose was familiar with the like; she'd passed through hundred of them. Possibly even a thousand. They were great places to hide out for a little while, but you could never stay for too long. Places where people knew everyone's business never boded well for people who were looking for anonymity. Nor for people who never aged, for that matter

[broodings]

Stefan turned to the woman who'd greeted him and... stared blankly... for a few seconds too long. "Uh." Was she talking to...? She had to be. There was no one else standing in a five foot radius, and on top of that, she was looking at him with the sort of face which he knew would soon transition to Oh, Stefan, how is it you still haven't learned how to interact convincingly with human beings? (He didn't know why he was hearing Damon's voice for this woman's thoughts, except that Damon was the official narrator for all the embarrassing moments of his life.) Stefan attempted now to change his expression, but already he could feel his eyebrows drawing together and his mouth frowning and the moment becoming irreparably awkward.

Who was this person? His mind struggled to place her. He'd seen the woman earlier, standing a few feet away with her eyes closed and face upturned to the snow. The hint of British in her voice surprised him - even Kaworu, who apparently didn't know English, somehow managed to speak the language without an

[loyalrose]

Rose blinked, caught off guard by the reply, especially when combined with the look she received from Stefan. He wasn't faking, he truly didn't recognize her, and Rose faltered, her expression showing her surprise. For a moment, she wondered if she could have possibly been mistaken, but there was no way someone could look this identical to the Salvatore brother she knew, and Stefan didn't have a twin. Or a doppleganger. What a thought, since that meant there could be two Damons. She wasn't sure the world would have survived to the twentieth century...

"Stefan?" she asked, pushing her thoughts away as she searched the young man's face with uncertainty now. "You are Stefan, right? It's me. Rose. What do you mean, have we met?"

[broodings]

Similar thoughts flitted through Stefan's mind as the woman stared back at him, looking unsettled by his response. Before coming to Landel's, he wouldn't have considered the possibility of there being a lookalike out there with his face, even despite having seen one for himself in the form of Elena. But that was just one anomaly, with a half-explanation in Elena's ancestry. There was no possibly way another centuries-apart doppelganger could be out there - or so he would've believed, if just yesterday he hadn't been told about someone who looked and sounded exactly like Damon, except human, and with a different name.

But this woman - Rose - knew Stefan's name. More than that, she knew him. There was nothing feigned about her confusion; she really did seem like she expected him to have recognized her. But by now, Stefan was certain that he didn't know any Roses. His memory wasn't perfect (that's what the library of personal journals was for), but it was pretty good, especially when it came to names and dates. It wasn't

[loyalrose]

If anything, that made Rose even more confused and she blinked again, taking a step back, uncertain. "I... a week or so? What kind of question is that, Stefan? We met after... Elijah. With Elena. I've been staying in your house," she replied, looking bewildered. Had something happened to his memories? Had Klaus found them somehow? Or some other strange crisis that she'd somehow slept through like so much else apparently?

"Is Elena alright?" she asked, suddenly feeling an urgent worry for the girl, realizing the last time she'd seen her, she'd tried to eat her, and maybe that wasn't the best thing to bring up to her apparently-amnesiac boyfriend currently standing in front of her. "She's safe, isn't she? Is Damon here too?" Wherever here was. She still hadn't puzzled that bit out and Yomi hadn't seemed to know. It could still be in Virginia, from her surroundings. Or a dozen other states she could recall off the top of her head.

[broodings]

Elijah. Another name which meant nothing to him, but apparently should have, since he'd known both him and Rose for at least a week. A lot more, Alaric had responded when Stefan had asked him if he remembered more from home than Damon did. Rose could've been describing anything (albeit a suggestively dangerous anything, if it involved newcomers to Mystic Falls and Elena), but if she was claiming to be staying in the Salvatore boarding house, that meant only one thing. His eyes flicked down to her hands, where he spotted a delicate silver band with a blue stone.

There was no mistaking the wary surprise in Stefan's face when he met her eyes again. She was a vampire. And not just any random vampire, if she possessed a daylight ring. Just how complicated was this situation with Katherine returning?

"She's fine. They're both fine- Why?" Stefan asked, his voice suddenly sharp. If she really did know them, it wasn't strange to ask after Elena or Damon, but there had been something else in her tone which gave him pause. She's

[loyalrose]

"So your memories... You don't have any of them for at least a week?" Rose asked, looking shocked and mildly horrified. Crap, things just kept getting worse the more she heard about this. Not even her shiny new ring and sunlight were countering all of this very well. She felt alone, and Rose hated being alone. Trevor was dead, and the only people who knew who she was, knew her, could no longer remember her? She wrapped her arms around herself tightly, feeling a cold that had nothing to do with the weather, and averted her gaze before Stefan could see her reaction to this

[broodings]

"Rose..." Stefan started, moving a step closer to the woman, but she crossed her arms and looked away, unmistakably shutting herself away. He watched her face for a silent moment, wondering how she felt. When he'd found out that Elena's memories were missing everything which had happened after his suicide attempt, he'd been horrified, but largely because of the idea of someone toying with her mind so casually. At least she still remembered plenty about who he and Damon were. Even now, after god knows what else had been done to her mind, she still knew him. She was still herself

[loyalrose]

Composing her expression usually came easy to Rose - she'd had years to perfect the art, after all - and she turned back to watch Stefan when he started speaking once more. What he said didn't make more sense than before, however, and her brow wrinkled in thought. Did no one's motives make sense in this place? "I suppose she didn't have a chance to catch his name this time, did she?" Rose asked. Having kidnapped Elena once herself, she knew firsthand that the girl hardly made a cooperative catch

[broodings]

At Rose's first question, Stefan only shook his head, looking off for a second with a quiet sigh. Elena was just as frustrated over the lack of concrete answers as he was over not being able to rescue her in time. What she did remember about that night was vague and confused enough for anyone to doubt the entirety of what had happened, but she'd been certain enough about that one part. The "doctor" had looked into her eyes and compelled her from escaping. What this meant, given the strong likelihood that they were no longer even in the same universe... Stefan had no idea

[loyalrose]

Rose fell into step beside him as they started moving away from the buses, heading deeper into the solitude of the snowy park. Flakes continued to flutter down around them, adding a pristine air to their surroundings, one that Rose soaked up with a smile. Despite everything, she couldn't but be in a good mood at the moment. It was easier outside than it had been on the bus, and even a few moments ago. Despite the fact that nothing was how she expected it to be, little things kept creeping up on her that kept her mood buoyed in spite of the seriousness of their situation

[broodings]

Stefan ducked his head in embarrassment when Rose suddenly flashed a grin and told him something Lexi had never mentioned before. "Um..." He coughed. Very, very rarely was he ever grateful for what he was, but this moment might've been one of them. Had he been human, with warmer and quicker blood flowing through his veins, Stefan suspected he would be blushing bright red about now. "Lexi could be very... I mean, I'm sure you... ah..." His mouth made a few other attempts at forming words before deciding to simply clamp shut. She was only teasing him, anyway; he could tell that much after a century of the same from his best friend. Stefan glanced back up at Rose and smiled, noting how that unexpected laugh made her seem at once less grave and less unfamiliar. Yes, he could see her being one of Lexi's friends

[loyalrose]

At Stefan's flustered response, Rose laughed again, looking very amused. "Lexi was Lexi," she agreed with a grin. "And loved to meddle, especially among her friends. You can close your mouth now, you're perfectly safe. Besides, I've seen the way you and Elena are together. That's special. And for that alone, I'm glad I didn't take Lexi up on her pestering