middleofsomewhere | The Endless River

The Endless River

On the morning of day twenty one of the month of Kazoo there is a message on the ICP screens around the train. Their SCA's will light up the colour of the Void and show the following information.

World #398050 is a void nexus known locally as Tshering. As a void nexus this world has strong links with the void and the connection through worlds. World #398050 is home to the Endless River. Legends speak of this river being powerful enough to send thoughts from one heart to another across any distance. All that is needed is for you to know who it is you wish to reach.

On-board

The dressing carriage is open, filled with clothing best suited to a pleasant spring day. Light, airy and in a rainbow of joyful colours and florals. One closet is entirely filled with wide-brimmed hats bedecked with ribbons, feathers and ornaments. A stack of picnic baskets and containers filled with an alarming variety of passenger-suitable foodstuffs and flasked drinks sits in one corner, next to rolls of thick, weatherproof blankets in the four team colours.

The large box marked Do Not Use Yet, filled with small, empty jute bags, is hopefully still sat in the Luggage carriage, ready for passengers to grab handfuls of its contents as directed by the announcement.

Upon landing (after an appropriate countdown), the train remains on the surface, its carriages partially curved to form a gathering site for the day. Welcome to Tshering, the eighth void nexus!

A Day for Picnics

Tshering, system #398050, is a strange place, only habitable by grace of the passengers' SCAs. The sky is shot through with colours, a cascade of sunsets, and through it, the void shimmering through it in seams like a child's painting of the milky way. Still, there's a beauty to the chaotic mash of colours that soaks through its landscape, and in the shelter of the forests of towering funghi that dot its surface, the Void can go unseen by its visitors.

The temperature seems mild, suitable for the provided clothing, and if there are weather patterns around the world they've taken the day off. The funghi are sturdy enough that what air flow there is doesn't disturb their stalks, and carved grooves and holds in some of the larger examples indicate that climbing them to sit atop their glowing crowns is eminently possible, and, in fact, encouraged.

the Endless River

The Endless River is a font of pure chaos, flowing from a multitude of small rivulets across the area to a central reservoir, from which it pours directly upwards, away from Tshering's surface and out of sight, beyond the world's atmosphere.

Anything bagged and placed within the Endless River will also flow upwards and soon be out of sight, passing, presumably, into the Void. Scattered across the surface of Tshering are small, glittering pebbles, as described in the announcement.

The stones are pleasantly cool to the touch, and all passengers need to do is feel. Messages can be in any form that the Voidtreckers wish. Perhaps words, perhaps feelings, perhaps an image from their mind into the stone. Perhaps a mixture. Once they begin their message the stone will glow slightly and continue to glow as they secure it in the bag and cast it into the river. They will feel, almost instinctively, that they need to focus as they do so, thinking of the person they wish to reach all the while.

There are plenty of bags and many more stones; passengers will not be limited in their sendings.

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"Well... I made my wish to help my dad." She can't talk about this without eating anything. She digs into her picnic basket until her fingers curl around the smooth skin of an apple. "He was a priest. We lived next to the church. See... My father -- He really wanted to make the world a better place. He had a soft heart, and he'd cry reading the morning paper. He was really a good person. And he thought very seriously about how to save people. He'd say that to save a new generation, we needed a new religion. So he started preaching stuff that wasn't in the Bible to the people who came to his church..."

It doesn't occur to her that Yondu might not know what the Bible was, or why that might be a big deal. If she was looking at him, she probably would. But her eyes are on the apple whenever she isn't biting into it.

"And, of course, they stopped coming. It was only natural, right? No one would listen to his words any more. After all, from the outside, he probably looked like some raving cultist. The church couldn't let someone like that preach for them, so they excommunicated him. Even so, he didn't give up. He believed in what he was saying that much. But it didn't matter what he said, no one would listen. Not even for a few minutes. And it got to the point where our family didn't even have food to eat."

Which, by itself, puts her eating into context, even if it isn't that hard to get the takeaway just from watching her. But that isn't what this is about. She doesn't even slow down.

"By the time I was offered a contract... I was just so angry. I couldn't understand it. I couldn't accept it. If they just gave my father a chance... They would have realized he wasn't saying anything bad or wrong. All they had to do was hear him out. So my wish... was to make everyone listen to what he had to say."

Luckily 'a bible' is something that translates, and a lot of facets of religions are uniform among planets. He can work it out.

"What kinda stuff was your daddy preachin'?"

Because it kind of stands out to him that people really didn't agree with his shit. To the point the fella and his family was starving, that he was kicked out as a priest altogether. "If you don't remember, that's alright. I'm still listenin'."

But that sounds fishy as hell to him. He likely did sound like a raving cultist. And her hungry little heart just wanted her family to eat again, and her father to have enough left in him to love and support her and not grapple constantly for followers.

Kyoko shakes her head. "I remember." Of course she does. "I grew up listening to his words... I loved them. But..." She shakes her head again. She doesn't think she can say them. Doesn't really... feel like she has any right to. But it's too early to explain that yet. So, uncharacteristically, she leaves the thought incomplete, and goes back to her story.

"So... I became a magical girl. And the next day... The church was full again. Every day, more and more people showed up to hear what my father had to say. My wish came true. And for a while, everything was good again. We had food to eat, and my father was happy. I put my all into hunting witches. They're the cause of a lot of suffering and misfortune, so, of course, like an idiot, I thought -- The two of us, we were saving the world together. Me and my dad."

There isn't much left of the apple. She's chewed it down to the slimmest, barely the core left over. She stares at it in her hand... and grins. But there's nothing happy in that grin. It's reflexive, a little feral, a little difficult to control.

"But, then, see... He found out. A witch had showed up in our church, controlling people, so that they'd try to burn it down. I couldn't let that happen. I defeated the witch, and saved the church, but... He found me there. In the middle of all the passed out people, and the stuff they were gonna use to burn down the church, and still dressed as a magical girl. So I told him the truth. About my wish. About what it did. About how all those people were coming, not because they really believed... But because my magic made them."

Her grin widens. "Did you know? A magical girl... She gets more than just the power to fight from her contract. She gets special magic, unique to her. It's different for everyone, because everyone's wishes are different. And me? I... I could make illusions."

Edited 2021-04-11 13:35 (UTC)

Oooooh her face is gettin' a little bit crazy. Just a touch. So he reaches out and puts a heavy hand on her shoulder, still holding the stone in the other one.

It explains what he saw with the other Kyoko, though. Not the horse stuff. But the people being tricked by illusions into switching places. The copies of herself. At least it was seeping into his understanding, a little bit at a time.

"What happened?" Said in a way that rhymes with 'How bad was it?', 'cause that couldn't have been good.

The touch was unexpected, but she doesn't startle. Between it and his question, the way he asked it... Instead, she stills. But the grin doesn't slide off of her face.

"He called me a witch." Here, she actually laughs. It doesn't sound anything like that first happy laugh Yondu heard from her when he had cheese in his teeth. Lower, tougher, devil-may-care. "It's hilarious, right? After I'd been hunting real witches every night! I explained it to him, explained everything. And he called me a witch, who crushed people's faiths and led them astray."

She drops the apple core in the dirt in front of her, between her feet. Her knees are still drawn up.

"When I still didn't get it, he took me up in front of his congregation. He started saying the exact opposite of what he'd been preaching. And they ate it all up. It didn't matter what he said." The words are a repetition, and it's on purpose. "He had a meltdown, and started drinking. He was miserable. Who wouldn't be, after your daughter betrays you and sells her soul to the devil?" Knowing what she knows now, about what being a magical girl means... He wasn't as wrong as she thought, back then.

"Eventually, he couldn't take it any more. And he killed my mother, and my little sister, and then himself. He burned our home down. I was the only one left. My wish destroyed my entire family."

Kyoko lifts her chin, and she's silent for a moment, but she isn't really taking in the alien scenery. After a moment, her head tilts, her eyes sliding to Yondu's face for the first time. "I don't think he'd want to hear anything I had to say. Not after what I did to him."

Edited 2021-04-12 03:26 (UTC)

What is a nice way to say, 'Your daddy is fucked up and doesn't deserve to hear nice things,' carefully. Yondu's expression settles into something firm, set, mulling over the sheer unadulterated bastardry of this man. The worst part is, for a microsecond he's jealous. He spent the last twenty-six years of his life resigning himself to a life of being unloved and constantly held in some kinda contempt because he wanted to protect his boy. And Peter? Peter loathed him for it and he knew it, but it was what he had to do.

And here's this man who had two baby girls who loved him. He had a wife who stuck by 'im and here's Yondu whose gotta pay people to say they care about 'im. He had people that were listenin' and he coulda used that to do the right thing. What'd he do? Just destroyed it all. That piece of shit had every chance every damn chance in the world to get it right, and what? Now there's his lone survivin' daughter all messed up here and in his heart of hearts he's guessin' she wouldn't be alive if he fully had his way.

"Gonna be real honest, I think if your daddy knew somethin' cheated an' tricked you he shoulda been there for ya instead of makin' the people that loved 'im hurt so bad. Especially them what had nothin' to do with it."

He just couldn't keep that in.

"Don't matter. You got a baby sister an' a ma at least that deserve to get a thought. Maybe hit them up first, decide about your daddy at the end once you've said your piece. Maybe talkin' to them other two'll set somethin' right in your head."

He offers her one of the stones.

This laugh is more of an exhale. Hah. "He didn't think I was cheated. He knew I chose it." She takes the offered stone with one hand, closing her fingers in the dirt again with the other. "Mother and Momo didn't deserve what happened to them. But I did. I'm the one who brought all of it down on us. I'm the one who was stupid enough to make the contract without considering their feelings. What they really wanted. I thought I was doing it for them... I thought this power could be used to protect the people who mattered. But instead, I got them all killed. What good is power like that?"

She shakes her head. "After that, I swore... I would never use my magic for someone else ever again. I even stopped being partners with Mami because of that. It was okay if normal people died, if it meant the familiars that killed them became witches, which would drop Grief Seeds and keep me alive. And I... lost my magic. I could still fight, but I couldn't use my enchantment any more. Kyubey told me it was because I rejected my wish. And that was fine with me. I didn't need... power like that. Even if it meant I had to change how I fought."

She hadn't said anything about being tricked, which makes her wonder where he got it from. But she doesn't think to ask in this moment. "You're right, though. There was more to being a magical girl than I knew. Soul Gems... That's only the start of it. We become witches, too. Magical girls. When our Soul Gems run out of magic, we turn into witches." A long pause. "So... I guess you could say... we've all been witches all along."

Her father was right. He had been right about her. The thought chokes her breath, and her head drops, her hair hiding her face.

And now she's crying. His previous thoughts of contempt for her father suddenly stutter and panicked daddy mode kicks in at a crying teenage girl. It's unfairly different than an upset teenage boy, kicking the wall and backtalking. It's got the sheer potency of watching a teammate take a shot, or seeing a familiar face look at you with nothing but disappointment.

He fumbles, then, and drops the stone for a moment.

"Hey, hey, you ain't that bad. You ain't that bad. You just made a mistake an' you're still workin' out how not to make more of 'em."

It's funny how the stuff that you always wish someone else had said to you when you needed it can suddenly just come out of your mouth when someone else needs to hear it. He doesn't make her look at him, but he gives her a hug. Rather than a rough leathery one, it's this stupid pink fabric in her face.

"It's gonna take time," he tells her as he pats her back with one hand, other arm around her shoulders. He knows she's pretty hostile, might hit at him or somethin'. But honestly, he's had kids hit at him before. Ain't the damndest use of a skill he shoulda never got.

Something in her breaks. She doesn't know what, doesn't know if she could say if someone held a gun to her head. But one breath hitches, and the next is an outright sob, and the pink blurs senselessly from the tears that overtake her.

Instead of lashing out, she curls up on herself. She doesn't so much as lean into him as try to hide in him, and the next thing she knows, a gutteral scream rips from her throat, muffled by the solidness of him.

She can't stop crying. Shit.

He does have a moment where he looks around guiltily, knowing that this is partially his fault. But he makes no effort to stop her from crying, feeling tears soak through to his skin.

"'Salright." He tries to comfort, rubbing her back. But other than a few muttered consolations he doesn't interrupt. The funny thing is the last time something like this happened it had been drunken crew sobbing over some loss or another. He'd redirected it like he was deflecting a missile, aiming the man at Kraglin and leaving to take care of some business or another.

Now he stands there and takes it like the man he needs to be. Whether it's for her or him.

By the time the tears finally stop... Kyoko feels hollow. Raw. She has a headache that she feels in her teeth. Her eyes hurt. Her face is snotty and wet and gross. And... she got all that over his nice clothes, too.

She doesn't know what to do. What to say. This wasn't what she meant to happen. (But isn't that just the story of her life?)

... his shirt... is pink. Stupidly, she finds herself fixating on that, while she can't bring herself to move. If she moves, they have to acknowledge what just happened. She doesn't want it. But she can't just sit here, either.

She lifts her head, first, wiping her face messily with the backs of her arms. (Why didn't she pick something with sleeves?) And then reaches deep down and finds a laugh. It comes out sounding stupid, but whatever.

"You look like an Easter egg in that shirt."

Look, it's the best icebreaker she could think of.

"I don't know what an Easter is so don't count on me to hatch notime soon."

He takes it, because the humor might help her. He looks at the wet spot on his shirt and reckons he can take care of that later. Wouldn't be too much trouble.

"Think you cried out a pint. Maybe before you make no more decisions here you go get some water to drink that ain't gonna kill ya." He thumbs to the river.

"Mm." It's a good point. And it buys her some time, too. To try to figure out what she really wants to do.

Kyoko opens the top of her picnic basket and rifles around. He said water, but really, she's hoping for juice. When her hand finds a plastic bottle of barley tea, though... She pulls it out, instead of pushing it aside. This isn't going to be anything like what Mami can make, but vending machine teas have been a guilty pleasure ever since she broke off their partnership. Maybe it won't be as guilty this time.

While she's at it... She pulls out a bag of hard candy, melon flavored. She opens it with her teeth, grabs a handful of the wrapped candies, and holds them out to Yondu. A wordless apology... and thank you.

He takes the candy, putting the wrapper in his pocket. "Thank ya."

Then he reaches down and picks up one of the rocks again, holds it in his hands, and focuses hard.

You sold me knowin' exactly what I was in for. When I found about Ego? I kept Peter, money be damned. I wasn't much of a good daddy, but I was better than you by light years. An' I know without my crew breathin' down my neck I woulda really put even that to shame.

He reaches down and picks up a little bag to put his stone in, looking determined as he flings it into the river. Dusting off his hands, he looks like he's feeling a little bit better himself. It wasn't loving, but it was something he'd never had the chance to say.

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The Endless River

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cw for this tag in specific, murder/suicide ment

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