middleofsomewhere | The Waking of Neran

The Waking of Neran

"Good morning Voidtreckers and passengers. Today is day twenty one of the month of Orchestra. We will be arriving in System #78961112094711 later today and the dressing carriage is open for your use."

It is indeed, with thick winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves in all sizes. There are also some bags suitable for carrying food, for anyone who wants to add to the festival food with more food!

They have the morning to prepare before another announcement.

"Shortly arriving in System #78961112094711. The weather is extremely cold, voidtreckers and passengers should wrap up warm and wear their SCA's at all times. Arriving in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."
The train shakes as they leave the void and they will see dark skies with glowing flecks of light falling down around them. It's only a glimpse before there is rock to both sides as they enter the landing area.

The Waking of Neran

... ARRIVAL TO OSIGA

THE VOIDTRECKER EXPRESS PULLS INTO AN OPEN HIGH-STACKED PARKING STATION, FILLED ALREADY BY A VARIETY OF VEHICLES. Darkness and the cold spills into where they pull in, lights and signs around to guide the Voidtreckers who exit the craft where they need to go, elevator and teleporting systems available to choose from.

For those turn their gaze to where the cold comes, they will see a view of the world: a landscape of mountains lit in burning bright blue. Like Christmas and city lights, they can be seen in the far distance, and the sky too glows with a shimmering, falling blue. It looks like a slow rain, while farther up, the twinkling of actual stars can be glimpsed.

This will be their view of the world for three Osiga days - 210 hours, give or take.

The lower floor widens into a train-like station, shuttles ready to take them into Osiga proper in short five minute rides. They just need to figure out they need to scan their SCAs at the turnstiles, which will beep with approval, and send a map to their SCA of the grotto.

With a handy dot to their hotel.

... THE IRUE GROTTO

HOTEL. THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOTEL IS STONY, A WALL OF UNEVEN ROCK WITH SLITS FOR WINDOWS CLIMBING UPWARD. It gives off a sparse, cold impression, but the interior is anything but. Inside the floors are smoother, a carpet in the middle of a lobby, and the walls are decorated with colourful paints and endless rugs and furs. There's seating, a roaring fire in one corner, and lighting set to a cosy mood.

There's stairs that can be taken, but also elevators. The bedrooms are much the same as the lobby, with paints and furs all around - the furs especially covering the beds, along with hand stitched quilts. In the centre is a fire pit, set with heatstones than wood or coal, and extras in a container by a wall with safety instructions of how to move them (with tongs and gloves).

Outside the rest of the grotto can be seen, a mish-mash of layers closer to a labyrinth. There's curtains for privacy, and also a screen to help blot out the sound.

FOOD & SIGHTS.

NOW, THE IRUE GROTTO CAN BE EXPLORED. The grotto is easy to get lost in, with stone stairs and archways doubling as bridges to lead to different levels, but always with something to see. Museums and art galleries fill most of the lower layers down, a few shops between of traditional trinkets and garments for those who come out interested in taking a piece of Osiga back with them. There are also day classes, with candle-making a big one on the first night.

Water runs through constructed streams, small but always in travel. They fall off into small waterfalls, eventually gathering into pools that always ensure drink is around. But there's also drinking spaces around, wall coves where servers mind the drinks, and people gather around on crouched seating. Privacy isn't a big deal in Osiga; visitors welcomed into conversation freely. The drinks favour the strong, spicy and sweet. Their traditional drinks are a fiery whisky and a sweet creamy milk drink flavoured by spices that taste very much like cinnamon and nutmeg. It is strongly alcoholic though there is a non alcoholic version as well. There are other drinks available of course from other planets but visitors are encouraged in a good natured way to try the good stuff.

And let's not forget the food. Most traditional Osigian dishes are spicy yet sweet, fatty, and largely meat. There are also food baskets all over, filled with wrapped snacks free for taking, or to add your own. Never let your neighbour go hungry. What will you find, dipping your hand in: a treat, or a mistake?

SORS PARKS, OPEN SKIES. THE FARTHER FROM THE HOTELS AND STATION VISITORS GO, THE MORE THE SKY BECOMES VISIBLE, AND WITH IT THE FALLING SNOW. Except this isn't snow, and those who venture out will figure this soon enough. There are sors parks up ahead, hard to miss for how they glow a brilliant blue, tall erratic sculptures shaped like an abstract mess. They're cold, even colder than the rest of the grotto, and near every entrance are wooden racks with coats and scarfs hanging from pegs, a bucket of heatstones to stick in pockets.

Keeping company is better than not. Anyone who goes in alone will find the chill uncomfortable to those who have someone else nearby, SCAs working stronger together. Paths somehow stay free from being covered in the icy mess, and every few yards are grit bins with small bags to put the contents in, instructions as to what to do.

And that's to throw them at the sculptures, into the air, and watch as the hardened ice disperses into a fizzle of lights. The sight is considered beautiful, and especially fun for kids and couples.

... ANAN & THE MINISTRY

It's maybe an hour or so after their arrival when a message comes through the comms on their SCA's.

boop beep boop beep / boop boop boop/ boop boop/ beep//
beep beep / boop beep//
beep beep beep boop/ boop boop boop/ beep beep/ boop beep beep / boop / beep boop beep/ beep/ boop beep boop beep/ boop beep boop/ beep/ beep boop beep/ beep beep beep//

"It didn't close the hack. I think your Voidtrecker Express likes me." Anan sounds almost triumphant. "Glad you all came. I'm at the drinking space next to the Irue Museam of Osigan Art."

For those that wish to go and meet her, they can.

... THE WAKING OF NERAN

NIGHT ONE: REMEMBERING. It's hard to tell when 'night' begins when the world is in darkness and there are more hours in the day then they are perhaps used to. But things begin to wind down a little, the art houses and museums close and the day activities are wrapped up.

People begin making their way to the main streets where the parade will go. Some people may have made candles throughout the day but there are also long candles for sale and 'fire' bearers carrying large torches to light the candles. The main lights are all turned off, plunging the streets into darkness lit only by the candles and the faint distant glow of sors.

The parade itself has large lit floats, literally floating above the ground, the lights are in intricate shapes. There are light dancers- people dressed completely in black to blend in to the night, with ribbons of light doing feats of acrobatics to music- instruments and volcaless voices weaving melodies.

After the parade passes by people move to the streams, where their floating candles that can be lit and sent on their way. There are designated areas for the tall candles to be placed- almost shrine like with areas to pray or think or sing- the helpful guides will assist anyone and are very open to the different ways people from various worlds and cultures may wish to remember their dead.

Afterwards people are encouraged to drink, eat, spend time with the living and swap stories of the dead. Dance and sing. It is upbeat, joyous and the tears are meant to be cathartic.

NIGHT TWO: PERSEVERING. After another day of activities- or resting and recovering from the excess of the night before the grotto again is ready in anticipation. The side of the grotto open to the sky is packed with people, ledges and railings packed with people. Even the buildings on this side of the grotto have opened their doors to allow people up on their roofs to watch the firework display.

Sparklers are sold, as are snacks and drinks and a voice comes through speakers throughout the space.

"NERAN! On this night you fight!" The crowd cheers. "Hear our dedication, return to us! For tonight is a night of COURAGE!"

The crowd cheers again and the fireworks begin. Loud and colourful, beautiful shapes, almost like dances in the sky. It's loud and it's busy but the atmosphere is great, throughout the night within the crowd there are marriage proposals, declarations of new jobs, decisions to travel the void. Bravery and courage abound- helped probably by the strong whisky that is flowing freely.

NIGHT THREE: UNITY. The festival continues, though it's a slightly later start on day three for many who are nursing hangovers, having a well earned sleep in preparation for the final night or just frantically trying to remember what declarations they had made the night before.

But the activities are still happening throughout the grotto- though the guides might advise any obvious voidtravellers that they may wish to nap before 'night' time, especially if they are not used to day/night cycles this long. The final night doesn't stop til sunrise after all and no one wants to miss the sun rising!

As the time comes for the party to start every square and every street is packed, music blares through speakers. Traditional Osigan music mixed with styles and music from other planets in the galexy. The traditional Osigan music has many layers, deep bass instruments that seem to make the ground itself rumble.

There is dancing, led by guides and locals. They are big circle dances, loud energetic and done in unity. There are callers who keep everyone in time and remind them of the steps but it is mostly an exercise in organised chaos.

But very fun organised chaos. There's extra chairs and benches set around for people who would rather watch or need a break from the endless swirl of dancers. There's plenty of water in large barrels for people to help themselves and other drinks are available to buy.

The party goes on for hours but eventually the music stops and there is an announcement that they have an hour left until sunrise. People begin moving out to find the best spots to watch. Up high on the cliffs people spread out rugs and blankets and settle, waiting.

The atmosphere is one of anticipation, people passing around drinks and snacks. Then there is a hush, a cry as for the first time in a month the first ray of light streaks across the sky.

Neran has awoken. The sun has returned once more.

OOC NOTES

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".. I do not mind you being here," she says.

And while that usually would be a simple statement - if not just because Alice sees Thanatos so much more as a person than as the very concept he embodies - there's a bit more feeling to it now as she's saying it. It's softer, intentional. Alice doesn't mind Thanatos being here, whether it is as himself or as Death itself.

After all, even though it was death that took her parents, there was someone who caused said deaths. It wasn't natural. It makes it so much easier to hate that person who caused it, rather than the concept itself.

Especially since Alice herself has never been afraid of it either.

Save myself? From death? Is that it? Is that why I'm here? I'm not afraid to die. At times I've welcomed death.

"If I would request it, would you stay here with me while I do this? I appreciate your presence. As a friend."

"If you wish me to stay, I will." Thanatos won't exactly know what to do, but standing around is something he can do. He puts his hands into his pockets instead of crossing his arms to blend into the crowd a little better. (Less imposing.)

Mort finds his way to Thanatos's shoulder and does his best to nest in the folds of Thanatos's scarf. The pom-pom on the top of Mort's hat wiggles cutely at his movement. He will also stay with Alice while she remembers.

There's a faint relief coming over Alice at his answer. Especially since it seems to come relatively easily, without him doubting it or protesting..

.. and then she spots Mort moving up there, and her smile grows even the tiniest fraction more. She's glad to have them both as friends. Even moreso with the reminder that Caissa is still in her arms as well, meowing at this entire situation.

"Thank you," she finally manages to say. It's not an easy thing to say for Alice, especially during such a - relatively - emotional moment, but she's doing her best. "Let's move towards the river."

Where people are setting the candles adrift. Alice is already starting to head in that direction, though she glances back at Thanatos and Mort.

"I.. am glad to not be alone right now. It is the first time I am paying honour to my family in such a way." She never was able to do so back home, considering the circumstances right after her family's death.

Thanatos (and Mort) will follow Alice and Caissa to the river. "This is just as much for the living as it is for the dead." It sounds like something Lady Death would say, and it makes sense. Even when it's beyond his usual realm of duties. Tangential but not what he usually oversees. Maybe she's finally rubbing off on him, a little.

He lets his eyes close as he stands near her among all the candles and flickering flames. He can sense some wayward spirits from this world gathering. Thanatos wouldn't be able to sense Alice's family here; they're not from this planet. Hopefully, the psychopomp of her world does it properly and sees to it that they arrive where they need to be.

"I wonder if that is why this world holds such a large event. So that no one is alone in their grief." There is the goddess Neran's influence, but there could be other reasons as well.

"My father used to tell me a lot of stories," Alice slowly says. It seems irrelevant at first, or perhaps just her remembering her family at a moment like this, where she is thinking of them.. but there's a bit more of a purpose to it than that, as evidenced by her words once she continues talking. "He told me that people up north tend to gather together like this more often. They tend to have a greater sense of community."

And while this might not be up north, there is one thing this place seems to have in common with northern regions on Earth..

".. since it is colder there, I presume. People who live among such cold must be keenly aware of just how quickly someone can die. Of just how fragile life is. Perhaps it means they gather more, or look after each other more."

People in London certainly didn't seem to care about any of that, after all. They'd gladly let people die in the streets.

"If more places were like that, life would be able to thrive better, I think." Thanatos doesn't just speak for her world but his as well. And others. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and wishing it was wouldn't do anything. His world might share the wintery cold, but it is also full of War. Two gods of war, in a sense, although Lord Ares is more known for it that his sister Lady Athena. And various other gods meddling in people's lives.

"Life can be very fragile as much as it is persistent. And some don't realize it until it's too late."

She closes her eyes.

"People do not realise it until it happens to them." It's not really a correction, as much as it's an addition to what he's saying. Because this has very much been Alice's experience. Maybe not as much in the asylum, since she wasn't entirely lucid there and her contact with other people was very limited.. but the moment she got out and wandered the streets of London, she realised as much.

People can see death all around them. They can watch children dying in the street, each and every single day.

But they often don't start caring until it is their own life on the line.

"Thanatos.. forgive me if this is a very personal question." Alice opens her eyes again. Her fondness for him is betrayed in her words, the way she addresses him so politely, so tactfully. Alice wouldn't ask just anyone to forgive her, but she likes Thanatos. He has always been so kind to her.

The last thing she wants to do is potentially make him uncomfortable.

"But when people die.. do they see you? Do you come to get them..?" In Thanatos' own world, anyway.

Alice speaks the truth. There are a certain subset of deaths which fall under his domain. They have so many regrets and fear in their last moments. Her question is hardly personal when it relates to his job. Even if it was, he can tell this means something to Alice, and so he would have been more likely to answer.

"If they don't see me, then they see either Lord Hermes or my brother, Charon." He does not collect everyone. He wouldn't be able to keep up. He already couldn't keep up with his case load with their help. "But for those who fall under my responsibility, they do. I'm often mistaken for Lord Hades or Lord Ares, but I am the one who approaches them."

"How do you decide who falls under your responsibility?"

After all, Alice was kind of assuming that everyone did, considering death comes to all, eventually.. but here Thanatos is saying that sometimes people see different gods when they die. Technically it doesn't apply to her, since she's pretty sure that they come from different worlds.

And yet.. Alice can't help but wonder.

"Are all worlds out there like that? Is there always someone waiting for you when you die..?"

"It depends on how someone dies, mostly. There are exceptions to who I'm assigned to collect. Who's thread pulls me to cut it. I... can't collect everyone on my own. Even with help, there are--were too many dying to stay on time." Which may sound like the mortals got more time to live, but in actuality, it meant more time physically and emotionally suffering. They may hate Thanatos; they don't fully realize the role he plays.

But that's not exactly what Alice wants to know, is it? "I can't imagine a world who doesn't have a psychopomp of some kind leading the souls to their rest. They have to find their way, even if they are lead by another shade. There will be someone for you when it's your time."

And if Thanatos can make it happen so that he's the one guiding her, then he will. However, that is a promise he cannot make. Just an effort.

It's nice to hear the confirmation. Granted, it's not like even Thanatos himself could be fully sure of the way it works in Alice's own world, but.. he's the closest thing she can get to an authority on the matter. And she trusts him. So perhaps even back in that dreary London, in that awful, cruel world.. There is someone out there, guiding souls after they die.

Alice really wishes it's true.

She slowly lifts her gaze towards him.

"Oh, I.. was not asking it for my own sake." Alice isn't afraid of death, after all. She never has been. Even if death would be nothing but a great big void, she would be more than alright with it. But.. "I just.. hope that there was someone there for my family. That they would not have to go out all alone after dying in such a cruel and unjust way.."

"There would be someone to guide them, and if they died together in the same way, then they would go together." Thanatos doesn't know the specifics, but he thinks that the psychopomp would take them all at once or in such quick succession that they wouldn't perceive any separation of time between them.

"They are likely together even now."

".. that is a relief."

Alice's voice is so soft as she says it - but emotional as well. Alice might not necessarily like to wear her emotions so openly, but she can't help it in this moment. Just thinking about her family having been able to be together.. It's nice. At least they weren't alone, even though they must have been in so much pain. Even though it must have been so hard for them..

The more Alice thinks about it, the more her emotions swell.

And before she knows it, there are already silent tears running down her cheeks.

"That is such.. a relief.."

Thanatos tenses in alarm at the emotion Alice shows. It's not like her to lose her composure. In the illusion world with their traumas was one thing, but this?

He doesn't point it out. Instead, he looks at the people near them, ready to glare with a God of Death expression should they give him reason to. None of them do, however. They are either lost in the spectacle or in their own remembrances and grief.

Mort will give a soft squeak in support. Alice will have plenty of time to feel her emotions and then recompose herself.

It takes a few moments.

A few moments that, thankfully, don't end up very awkward. Maybe it'd be really awkward if there was some sort of crowd around her, if Alice felt like all eyes were on her, just like they were back home.. But there isn't. For some mysterious reason - read: Thanatos looking like he's ready to THROW DOWN with everyone who bothers her at a moment like this - it doesn't seem like anyone is coming near her right now, and it gives Alice the space and mental peace to just freely cry for a moment.

It's still all silent, with absolutely no sobs, but the tears do keep coming for a few moments until she feels like she has run dry for the moment, reaching up to wipe away the tearstains on her face with the back of her hand.

".. Sorry," Alice finally says as she turns back to Thanatos. "I let myself go just a tad too much just now."

Because even if she was silently letting out her emotions, letting out her emotions in public is still always embarrassing to some degree.

"You don't need to apologize to me," Thanatos says softly. Alice doesn't need to worry about how she's expressing herself right now. "Call it being swept up in the festivities." Mort squeaks his agreement.

"Where would you like to go from here?" Does Alice want to stay and watch the lights, remembering her family? Or does she want to head somewhere to be by herself for a while after feeling those strong emotions in public? Thanatos will continue to stand with her or help her back to the hotel depending on what she wants.

It's a good question. What does Alice want to do right now? She got so lost in her emotions there for a few moments that she didn't even stop to consider what she wanted to do after.

Alice glances at Thanatos and Mort for a moment, before glancing around them instead.

"I.. I think I would like to go back to my room."

Because.. indeed, it's hard for Alice to be out in public after having showed her emotions too openly. She still feels so incredibly raw on the inside right now, and the last thing she wants to do is have another public breakdown - especially if it happens when Thanatos isn't near to glare away any potential onlookers.

Caissa will be able to keep Alice company as she recovers from her emotions. At least, he hopes that will be the case.

He nods and starts to walk in front of her to the hotel. She can follow behind him as he parts the crowd. No need to worry about anyone seeing her red, puffy eyes if they are too busy looking at him. It won't take them too long at all.

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The Waking of Neran

cw: vague reference to suicidal ideation

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