(no subject)
In which everything gets a little bit meta, FOIP if you know what you're looking for, no really, even with the system done.
The woman stood on hills that at a glance looked like the peaceful ones around Cambridge. When you looked closer you realised that the details weren't quite right, hedges that separated the fields weren't there, no cart tracks, forests or even buildings stopped the wind that caught at her apron.
The man who walked up behind her was just as loved by the wind, long hair and robes played with like the woman's clothes and the ribbon that held her mobcap in place. "So what will you do now?"
"Continue, of course," she didn't need to look to recognise the man's presence and her lack of objection to the company led him to walk closer, still a fair distance away, behind and to her right as he watched her carefully. She shrugged off the scrutiny easily, voice still mild and straightforward, "I've got a life and a job. Unlike you guys, I got a happy ending, there's no need for me to travel."
"Except you tasted magic." the man said simply, "your mind is too perfect at understanding how to tweak things and now you are aware of it it's not so easy to give up, for all that we already knew that you were human and the one who was permanently reaching for something and never able to grasp it. Your God, or fate, really was kind to you."
Annie laughed, "Oh yes! It was beautifully ironic, allowing me to have precisely what I wanted and yet still keep those sentences holding true. Even going to far as to give me what I had been jealous of Sophia for having." She was silent for a moment, eyes not moving from the sky and letting the breeze wash over her. The eyes closed for a moment and the breeze swelled before she opened them again, "Circumstances loved me and actively moved to fill my desires in a wonderfully bittersweet way, I imagine having Shaping destinies was powerful even if it had no mechanical effect. That or we blame Estantia."
The man's mouth twitched in a smile, "It is always a good fallback when there are too many coincidences happening in quick succession. You feel guilty for considering travelling despite everything being so neatly tied up for you." he paused, "Well, not quite, but your story has a neat end if you stop it now, and you feel that you should stop, since the signs point towards that."
"Sometimes sharing a mind and set of memories with other people is a complete bitch." Annie said cordially, "Thank you for not probing about the other reason though, even if I can feel you thinking it."
"Oh?"
"Don't try and pull that with me," she rolled her eyes, "you know I've been thinking about the fact one of my friends is out there walking the universes and probably getting progressively crazier and more alone. You also know I'm the Loyal, and if there's one thing we don't do it's turn our back on our friends, even if they don't want the help."
The man nodded, "Too true."
There was a significant pause before she spoke again. "This is really stupid, isn't it?"
"Quite probably," he agreed pleasantly, sitting down to arrange his skirts around him on the grass, "but that's not stopped you in the past."
"Not really. But I can't just walk though like he does, inworld I'll want to go to heaven, which means I'd need to leave while alive and..."
"You'd not abandon your crew." the man finished with a nod, "Then you'll have to do something similar to myself, or maybe an adapted version of his own travels given we will just shatter the fourth wall and be considered bad roleplayers if you can recall what happened and meet up with him. That is, if he doesn't kill you off hand for being you, not being you, or because the things he's been through have broken his mind."
Annie rolled her eyes before looking back at him with a wry smile, "You're so wonderfully optimistic, but yes, you have a point. So what do I do?"
The man thought for some time, the former maid watching him think in silence. Eventually his eyes opened, "The best method is probably for you, as your OC aspect/the oversoul, to try and exert your influence on your alternates at critical points. We may be able to do the same in order to pass messages from you. Ischarion would be ideal, given his nature and my power, but I do not think he is practical."
"That method still ends up with a pissed off rather powerful being on your hands," Annie pointed out, "and he wouldn't be able to explain without breaking everything. So I'd need to, at some point, find him where the rules we have to play by don't matter."
"The Hub they spoke of?"
"It seems the most sensible option we have."
The man nodded and stood, brushing off his robes, "Very well, but for the mean time, do you want to learn how to access your alternates? I believe your work with shaping destiny should help you do so."
She scowled and turned her face to the sky again, "You forget I can't do that now."
"You can't do it in your home world because of the ritual," he corrected, a slight smirk on his face, "It said nothing about here." He raised a hand and indicated the dark blue ribbon holding back his own hair, "Besides, you can emulate/tap into Estantia should you wish."
"Oh because that can only end well," she responded sarcastically, though she still reached up to undo the ribbon holding the mobcap in place, pulling it and the handkerchief away before letting the bun unroll with a shake of her head. The wind started to pick up as she breathed out and started to undo the plait, breeze playing with the strands as her back straightened, pulling herself up with the imperiousness she recognised from when she had been barking orders, standing tall with the ghost of wings at her back.
Her hair sprang out of her fingers, the final strands of the curled hair unravelling in the wind and flaring our around her as she felt the man's presence at her back swell slightly, their voice coming to her quiet and crystal clear despite the rising wind.
"Now, reach out and we will begin."
The woman stood on hills that at a glance looked like the peaceful ones around Cambridge. When you looked closer you realised that the details weren't quite right, hedges that separated the fields weren't there, no cart tracks, forests or even buildings stopped the wind that caught at her apron.
The man who walked up behind her was just as loved by the wind, long hair and robes played with like the woman's clothes and the ribbon that held her mobcap in place. "So what will you do now?"
"Continue, of course," she didn't need to look to recognise the man's presence and her lack of objection to the company led him to walk closer, still a fair distance away, behind and to her right as he watched her carefully. She shrugged off the scrutiny easily, voice still mild and straightforward, "I've got a life and a job. Unlike you guys, I got a happy ending, there's no need for me to travel."
"Except you tasted magic." the man said simply, "your mind is too perfect at understanding how to tweak things and now you are aware of it it's not so easy to give up, for all that we already knew that you were human and the one who was permanently reaching for something and never able to grasp it. Your God, or fate, really was kind to you."
Annie laughed, "Oh yes! It was beautifully ironic, allowing me to have precisely what I wanted and yet still keep those sentences holding true. Even going to far as to give me what I had been jealous of Sophia for having." She was silent for a moment, eyes not moving from the sky and letting the breeze wash over her. The eyes closed for a moment and the breeze swelled before she opened them again, "Circumstances loved me and actively moved to fill my desires in a wonderfully bittersweet way, I imagine having Shaping destinies was powerful even if it had no mechanical effect. That or we blame Estantia."
The man's mouth twitched in a smile, "It is always a good fallback when there are too many coincidences happening in quick succession. You feel guilty for considering travelling despite everything being so neatly tied up for you." he paused, "Well, not quite, but your story has a neat end if you stop it now, and you feel that you should stop, since the signs point towards that."
"Sometimes sharing a mind and set of memories with other people is a complete bitch." Annie said cordially, "Thank you for not probing about the other reason though, even if I can feel you thinking it."
"Oh?"
"Don't try and pull that with me," she rolled her eyes, "you know I've been thinking about the fact one of my friends is out there walking the universes and probably getting progressively crazier and more alone. You also know I'm the Loyal, and if there's one thing we don't do it's turn our back on our friends, even if they don't want the help."
The man nodded, "Too true."
There was a significant pause before she spoke again. "This is really stupid, isn't it?"
"Quite probably," he agreed pleasantly, sitting down to arrange his skirts around him on the grass, "but that's not stopped you in the past."
"Not really. But I can't just walk though like he does, inworld I'll want to go to heaven, which means I'd need to leave while alive and..."
"You'd not abandon your crew." the man finished with a nod, "Then you'll have to do something similar to myself, or maybe an adapted version of his own travels given we will just shatter the fourth wall and be considered bad roleplayers if you can recall what happened and meet up with him. That is, if he doesn't kill you off hand for being you, not being you, or because the things he's been through have broken his mind."
Annie rolled her eyes before looking back at him with a wry smile, "You're so wonderfully optimistic, but yes, you have a point. So what do I do?"
The man thought for some time, the former maid watching him think in silence. Eventually his eyes opened, "The best method is probably for you, as your OC aspect/the oversoul, to try and exert your influence on your alternates at critical points. We may be able to do the same in order to pass messages from you. Ischarion would be ideal, given his nature and my power, but I do not think he is practical."
"That method still ends up with a pissed off rather powerful being on your hands," Annie pointed out, "and he wouldn't be able to explain without breaking everything. So I'd need to, at some point, find him where the rules we have to play by don't matter."
"The Hub they spoke of?"
"It seems the most sensible option we have."
The man nodded and stood, brushing off his robes, "Very well, but for the mean time, do you want to learn how to access your alternates? I believe your work with shaping destiny should help you do so."
She scowled and turned her face to the sky again, "You forget I can't do that now."
"You can't do it in your home world because of the ritual," he corrected, a slight smirk on his face, "It said nothing about here." He raised a hand and indicated the dark blue ribbon holding back his own hair, "Besides, you can emulate/tap into Estantia should you wish."
"Oh because that can only end well," she responded sarcastically, though she still reached up to undo the ribbon holding the mobcap in place, pulling it and the handkerchief away before letting the bun unroll with a shake of her head. The wind started to pick up as she breathed out and started to undo the plait, breeze playing with the strands as her back straightened, pulling herself up with the imperiousness she recognised from when she had been barking orders, standing tall with the ghost of wings at her back.
Her hair sprang out of her fingers, the final strands of the curled hair unravelling in the wind and flaring our around her as she felt the man's presence at her back swell slightly, their voice coming to her quiet and crystal clear despite the rising wind.
"Now, reach out and we will begin."