[thread] Flaws In Your Reality

[soulinflight]

Aligoté sat down on the edge of the empty fountain in the main plaza, having spent the last hour walking around the walled-in city. He had finally come to the conclusion that Sacy was not among the smattering of people present here. This perplexed him, because he'd been positive that

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[quarkonium]

Khrista, with Merlot right behind her, walked into the living room. She wondered for a moment where their parents were, but heard their voices coming from the living room. She sighed, unable to keep herself from wondering if this was going to work at all. But it had to. Or something else, anything else. She didn't want to see her sister in distress again, at least not in the way she'd been earlier. She could stand it happening to herself, but not to Merlot.

Now I'm overprotective, too.

She sat down on the couch. "Uh, Merlot? You know Father best, maybe you should... I don't know, drop him some hints every now and then. To remind him of his past. And maybe... maybe he'll snap out of it."

[forhermemory]

Merlot nodded, biting her lower lip for a moment before attempting a smile. "Yes, I can do that. Perhaps if I mention something about Aquavitae, or if I--!" She broke off, her eyes widening.

"Of course! Khrista, how could I forget? Father's pocketwatch!"

[quarkonium]

Khrista couldn't stop herself from smiling. "That's it. That might just be it. He couldn't possibly not recognize-"

She stopped in midsentence as Maria started to enter the living room, carefully balancing four cups of hot chocolate on a tray. For a moment Khrista just sat there in surprise; it was very rare for her mother to act like... well, the lady in the house. She then glanced at Merlot knowingly; this was the chance they were waiting for. Sort of.

"Oh, Merlot." Maria smiled. "This is Khrista's friend, Aligoté. Aligoté, this is my youngest daughter, Merlot."

[soulinflight]

Aligoté nodded, giving Merlot a slightly more hesitant smile. Merlot, for her part, gave him a sweet smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Aligoté."

"You too," he replied, taking a seat. "Sorry to barge in on all of you like this..."

Merlot shook her head, exchanging a glance with Khrista. "It's no trouble at all."

[quarkonium]

"Oh, definitely no trouble at all," Khrista seconded, glancing likewise at her sister. Okay. She had to somehow stop their conversation from stagnation. But first things first. She reached out for the tray, carefully picking up two cups and handing one to Merlot. The other she tried to pass to Aligoté. "Here. Drink up, it's a rather... chilly afternoon."

[soulinflight]

"Thank you Khrista," Merlot murmured, but her eyes never left her father. It was strange to see him ill at ease, and she could tell that he was.

Aligoté nodded his thanks, sipping at the hot chocolate. It was good, but it lacked something. It took him a moment to figure out what it was: cinnamon. In most places in Aquavitae, cinnamon as well as cocoa was put into the mixture, changing the taste. This was done because cocoa was usually made from the dried chocolate fruits that grew in chocolate orchards, and the cinnamon helped preserve it. He didn't know (or at least couldn't remember at the moment) that in other worlds chocolate was not a naturally grown substance -- instead it was harvested from beans and manufactured.

Still, he was a guest and it didn't taste bad, just different. He started to say something, but stopped as Merlot had just spoken at the same time

[crescentlocus]

Khrista, who was used to processed food, very much enjoyed the drink, not really able to tell the difference. So she was surprised - just as Maria was - when both Aligoté and Merlot seemed to complain that it lacked something; more so at the expressions on their faces.

Definitely not a coincidence. Khrista was sure of that. Maria, on the other hand, was clearly confused. "Sorry," she apologized hastily, if only to break the ice. Although she did know she wasn't a good cook. "Never had a lot of time to be a housewife, I'm afraid."

[forhermemory]

"S'perfectly fine," Aligoté said, clearly flustered and trying to hide it by returning to his drink. His speech tended to run together with his accent when he was bothered by something -- so did Merlot's, for that matter, but it took a lot more fluster and it sounded much more amusing.

"Yes, there's no need to apologize Mother. You've had a very busy life. No one would fault you for not having time to learn culinary arts when you were supposed to be searching for something. Right?"

[crescentlocus]

Khrista nodded almost too enthusiastically. "That's right, you spent all those years trying to bring our family together again."

At that Maria stared at her two daughters strangely. "What are you talking about? I wasn't searching for something." She sighed and turned back to Aligoté, giving him an apologetic look for her daughters' strange ramblings. "I worked in the army, you see. I did chores on the battlefield, not at home," she explained, leaving her older daughter wide-eyed.

This is what, part of her hallucination? Quark sure as hell isn't an army!

[forhermemory]

Merlot shot Khrista another look as though to say, This isn't working... their memories are all messed up! At this point she was really wondering if she could just sing them back into loving each other again.

She shifting, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing the silver pocketwatch, holding it out for both of them to see. She met their eyes steadily, is though challenging them to remember the truth.

Aligoté recovered first. "O-oi, how come you've... that's Sacy's...!"

[crescentlocus]

Maria had initially turned away, but the pocketwatch caught her attention. She found herself staring at it, as if figuring out where she'd seen it before.

"Oh," she finally said - and loud enough for everyone else in the room to hear, although she didn't seem to be aware of the fact. "Your father... he gave that to me when we parted ways-" She trailed off. Where did that come from? Parted ways? But as far as she knew, she and Albel hadn't...

"I need to sit down," Maria finished, suddenly feeling very strange.

[soulinflight]

A surge of hope filled Merlot, and she stared hard at her father. "It's yours, isn't it? It was given to you, and because it was precious you gave it away even though you believed you'd never see it again. It went away to a different world."

Aligoté tried to shake his head, but the denial wouldn't come. Sacy's watch hadn't worked, but this one ticked peacefully. Yet it was the same one, and unbidden the image of a shy blond Egyptian rose to mind and then faded away. Whoever that person was, he'd fixed the watch. The watch Sacy had given him, and he'd kept it until he found someone equally important to...

"I..."

[quarkonium]

"Mother, are you alright?" Khrista asked in a whisper, hurrying over to their mother. Well, at least the plan was working. Somewhat.

Maria nodded absently. "It's just..." But then she shook her head. "I don't know. I can't seem to think clearly."

Khrista glanced at Merlot, then at Aligoté, likewise hoping for a miracle. The madness had to stop, and soon. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep herself together, especially after she'd seen Merlot break down. Please. Please.

[forhermemory]

"It's okay," Merlot soothed, because at this point both parents looked ready to bolt from the room. Aligoté in particular seemed like he was only held in place by the sight of the silver watch, or he'd have long cleared the room already.

Her voice changed very slightly; it was hard to describe, it didn't sound different at all -- but it felt different. Felt like they bypassed normal hearing and went right into the soul.

"You just have to think about it a little more. How can you both remember having this watch if you weren't together?" She looked at Maria serenely. "A life of just taking orders isn't what you remember, is it? Doesn't that feel wrong to you?"

Her gaze shifted to Aligoté once more. "And how could it be just coincidence that I have a name with so much meaning to you? Can you really trick yourself into believing that?"

[crescentlocus]

"A life taking orders..." Maria echoed, and there was something about her expression that indicated that she wasn't exactly thinking of the present. Yes. How it all began. How her life all began. She was a weapon of the Federation, created by Robert Leingod, to fight against the Creator who proclaimed that the Eternal Sphere was nothing more than a game. She'd fought against that, with her friends, with Albel and Fayt many others...

But there was another war. A war in this same place, but in another time. A war that she, too, fought with all her heart, because there really was no other choice. In that war they were together again, her and Albel and Fayt, and many others... and someone. Someone who'd been there for her, easing her sorrows, giving her the gift of his friendship and love.

Her memories were a blur, but she was certain now. Something was going on in the compound, and it wasn't the children who were delusional.

"...what's going on?"

[soulinflight]

Aligoté couldn't have spoken if he'd wanted to at the moment, he was completely overwhelmed. It felt like a fog lifting, and there were still a lot of things that didn't quite make sense yet, but he knew that everything he thought he'd experienced in the last few days wasn't right.

He looked at the girls, and then back at Maria. But this time there was a trace of recognition, and he spoke as though trying to job both his memory and her own.

"... Maria?"