Quest 103
[Accidental Video Post]
[Here is Rosella, seated at a table in the Library and slumped over an open book, head propped on one arm. The dark circles under her eyes are apparent; she hasn't been sleeping well for days, and she's finally succumbed to the tantalizing pull of weariness. There are stacks of books on either side of her, arranged in a somewhat haphazard order; she'd been reading, perhaps, and only just put her head down for a moment to rest her eyes--and then one moment became another, and another, and now she is fast asleep.
...But not for long.
At first, the only sign that something is amiss is the way her eyes squeeze shut a little tighter. Then her breathing quickens, and she begins to mumble, too low for the microphone on the device to pick up. For anyone paying particularly close attention, or someone particularly good at reading lips, one might recognize the repetition of the word "No".
Then at last she starts awake, throwing her arms out to either side as if to catch herself from falling, and in the process of doing so topples the stacks of books with a loud clatter.]
DON'T--!
[Slowly, realization settles in, and she remains still for a minute as she gets her breathing under control. Then, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head in exasperation, she fumbles for the device and pulls it toward her.]
Just a dream, it was only a dream, it wasn't anything but a--
[As she begins to poke at the device, the video feed switches off.]
[Private//Easily Hackable]
Only a dream, it was only a dream, it was only a dream and if I write it down it'll go away, all I have to do is tell it and tell it and tell it and the more I tell it the easier it'll be, it won't be real, it'll just be another story, just another dream, it wasn't real...
It was a tower, locked in a tower in the highest room, gray stone and no windows and shackles on the wall, heavy iron shackles around my wrists. They were cold, and so tight around my arms, and it hurt to stand that way, and there was nothing else in the room but the mirror on the other wall. Merlin's Mirror. What was it doing on the wall? Merlin's Mirror on the wall and it was across from me, just eye level so I could look into it. I couldn't help but look. What future would it tell for me? What would it show me?
First came the vision of a kingdom swallowed up in flames, with great chasms torn through the earth and the ruins of a castle barely standing as the trees burned and the smoke climbed higher and higher--
Next was a gray-haired man--Daddy, lying in bed, pale as death and lying like a corpse, and next to him was Mother, crying, and on the other side Alexander, distraught and hopeless and his shoulders slumped, as though he knew there was nothing he could do. And where was I? Why wasn't I there? I was--gone, That's how it was when I was gone, and I couldn't get back in time. And all of a sudden he sort of--lurched with a wracking cough, a horrible cough, and his head fell to the side as he lay still, unmoving--
And then it changed again, and next came the awful, sickening grinding sound of clockwork gears, and the ticking started echoing throughout that tower room, and I screamed and yanked at the chains, sobbing and straining to break free, but I couldn't look away, couldn't move my head, couldn't do anything but watch as each tick counted off the death of one of my friends; the second hand moved and they'd just--crumple to the ground, as though it were a scythe and not a hand on a clock...
And then the gears ground again and there were wingbeats outside the barred door, and a minute later, the door opened and the room was filled with winged monkeys. And they rushed over to the chains and pulled me free of them, twisting my arms behind my back--oh, it hurt, they were bruised, I could feel it--and I kicked and thrashed and tried to break free, but two monkeys grabbed my legs and forced them down to the ground, and another jammed a--a crown of flowers on my head, pulled a veil over my eyes--
They dragged me to the door as a horrible, haunting wedding march started up, following the beat of the ticking and the gears--always the ticking--and from the bottom of the tower she called up to them, she told them, "Send down the bride!" and then with a heave they threw me down the stairs--
It wasn't real, it wasn't real, no one is dead and Daddy is safe and Daventry is saved and it's not real, I'm not married, I'm not dead...
Ngh. I...ugh. It was only a dream. A horrible, horrible dream.
I should...I should get back to work, I suppose. Or...no, it's fine. I'm fine. I'll just...
Lolotte...
[/Private]
[OOC: Mwahaha, I love this curse so much. Fortunately for Rosella, functioning for days without sleep is nothing new to her, right? Feel free to action her up if you feel like it~
Also, this is kinda placeholdery; I'll be back soon.]
[Here is Rosella, seated at a table in the Library and slumped over an open book, head propped on one arm. The dark circles under her eyes are apparent; she hasn't been sleeping well for days, and she's finally succumbed to the tantalizing pull of weariness. There are stacks of books on either side of her, arranged in a somewhat haphazard order; she'd been reading, perhaps, and only just put her head down for a moment to rest her eyes--and then one moment became another, and another, and now she is fast asleep.
...But not for long.
At first, the only sign that something is amiss is the way her eyes squeeze shut a little tighter. Then her breathing quickens, and she begins to mumble, too low for the microphone on the device to pick up. For anyone paying particularly close attention, or someone particularly good at reading lips, one might recognize the repetition of the word "No".
Then at last she starts awake, throwing her arms out to either side as if to catch herself from falling, and in the process of doing so topples the stacks of books with a loud clatter.]
DON'T--!
[Slowly, realization settles in, and she remains still for a minute as she gets her breathing under control. Then, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head in exasperation, she fumbles for the device and pulls it toward her.]
Just a dream, it was only a dream, it wasn't anything but a--
[As she begins to poke at the device, the video feed switches off.]
[Private//Easily Hackable]
Only a dream, it was only a dream, it was only a dream and if I write it down it'll go away, all I have to do is tell it and tell it and tell it and the more I tell it the easier it'll be, it won't be real, it'll just be another story, just another dream, it wasn't real...
It was a tower, locked in a tower in the highest room, gray stone and no windows and shackles on the wall, heavy iron shackles around my wrists. They were cold, and so tight around my arms, and it hurt to stand that way, and there was nothing else in the room but the mirror on the other wall. Merlin's Mirror. What was it doing on the wall? Merlin's Mirror on the wall and it was across from me, just eye level so I could look into it. I couldn't help but look. What future would it tell for me? What would it show me?
First came the vision of a kingdom swallowed up in flames, with great chasms torn through the earth and the ruins of a castle barely standing as the trees burned and the smoke climbed higher and higher--
Next was a gray-haired man--Daddy, lying in bed, pale as death and lying like a corpse, and next to him was Mother, crying, and on the other side Alexander, distraught and hopeless and his shoulders slumped, as though he knew there was nothing he could do. And where was I? Why wasn't I there? I was--gone, That's how it was when I was gone, and I couldn't get back in time. And all of a sudden he sort of--lurched with a wracking cough, a horrible cough, and his head fell to the side as he lay still, unmoving--
And then it changed again, and next came the awful, sickening grinding sound of clockwork gears, and the ticking started echoing throughout that tower room, and I screamed and yanked at the chains, sobbing and straining to break free, but I couldn't look away, couldn't move my head, couldn't do anything but watch as each tick counted off the death of one of my friends; the second hand moved and they'd just--crumple to the ground, as though it were a scythe and not a hand on a clock...
And then the gears ground again and there were wingbeats outside the barred door, and a minute later, the door opened and the room was filled with winged monkeys. And they rushed over to the chains and pulled me free of them, twisting my arms behind my back--oh, it hurt, they were bruised, I could feel it--and I kicked and thrashed and tried to break free, but two monkeys grabbed my legs and forced them down to the ground, and another jammed a--a crown of flowers on my head, pulled a veil over my eyes--
They dragged me to the door as a horrible, haunting wedding march started up, following the beat of the ticking and the gears--always the ticking--and from the bottom of the tower she called up to them, she told them, "Send down the bride!" and then with a heave they threw me down the stairs--
It wasn't real, it wasn't real, no one is dead and Daddy is safe and Daventry is saved and it's not real, I'm not married, I'm not dead...
Ngh. I...ugh. It was only a dream. A horrible, horrible dream.
I should...I should get back to work, I suppose. Or...no, it's fine. I'm fine. I'll just...
Lolotte...
[/Private]
[OOC: Mwahaha, I love this curse so much. Fortunately for Rosella, functioning for days without sleep is nothing new to her, right? Feel free to action her up if you feel like it~
Also, this is kinda placeholdery; I'll be back soon.]