middleofsomewhere | Jema'grethy: Memory Cave

"It's rough. We can't do cool tricks or avoid chores. Or. We can, but it takes more work. And the heroes end up in some pretty scary situations without powers to make it easier."

He should know. He knows a few.

"But life's life. Most important thing is spending it with the people you care about---but I know the train loves to make that hard on us."

"Heroes with magic can wind up in scary situations too. Because usually the villains have magic too." He refused to think about the people they lost. Refused. He would save that for later. When he could hide out alone.

So instead he nodded. "The Train brings lots of people, but never the ones we want."

"...yeah. I've never seen anyone I know. I mean. Not that I want this whole coma thing to happen to them, that'd be pretty scary for the town. But I miss them. Yeah, that's selfish. But I'm a little selfish sometimes."

He sighs and idly rolls his arm. "...did I hear other people say this is gonna keep happening to us?"

"Yeah, happened three times last time. What do you mean coma? Or were you just taking a pause in your speech?" Coma, comma, get it?

"I mean..." Jake pauses and rubs the back of his head.

"You heard the news, right? What we are in the void right now is just our souls. Our bodies are all unconscious on the last world we were on before boarding."

He looks hesitant. It's upsetting news, he knows.

"Wait... what????" He asked, staring for a moment. Because... what?

"...yeah, I went over it with everybody a few months ago when I pieced it together."

Normally Jake would crack a joke to lighten the mood, but...this is too serious for that. He sighs.

"I saw it for myself when I went back home. I was bouncing around the city fine, but then my body's still in a coma at the hospital. It was really creepy to look at. But---we're gonna figure something out, okay?"

He can't let it end on a hopeless note.

Leia. He had to find Leia and tell her!

But wait, wouldn't Leia of all people have known? Had she been taking care of all their bodies? That would be like her to do that and not tell them to protect them, wouldn't it? Why was she always so worried about his secrets hurting him when she was keeping something like that to herself? He needed to talk to her...

But for now he had to focus. "What happens if like... I was fishing? Think someone... fished me out?" he asked with a feline grin. I'd hate to sea what I'd look like if they hadn't." But then an unpleasant thought came upon him. He kept the smile up, though his voice was a little too casual when he asked "what about when we leave? If this place is like a creepy disturbing form of Waking, what happens when we go back...? Do we wake from Waking?"

"...hopefully they did," is all Jake can say. He tries to smile, but it's a little strained.

"And...yeah. I thnk we'll wake back up where we were. Not that I'm so sure I'm on the same page about what that means, but...yeah."

He nods to himself. "It'll work out, I think."

"Sounds like it'll be a buff situation when it does." Because it worked out.

Look, he's shaken, so this is what will pass for humour at the moment.

Jake takes a moment to try to calm himself. In and out. Deep breaths.

"...okay, I think...we just wait until the next time we're pulled in here, and we figure out what to do with ourselves then?"

"And the rest of the memories?" He got through this once. He didn't like his odds of it happening again.

"I've never been through this. I don't know what'll happen. But...we'll get through it. We have to, right?"

Jake tries to smile for him. They can do it. Somehow.

"Now that we've been tossed in?"

"Yup. Jumble of emotions, coming atcha..."

Thankfully, there's a little break. Jake wakes up alone on the sand once more, explores the island a bit...but the inevitable return comes quickly. He finds his mind zoning out, and Spark will receive a different memory.

The setting is a rather informal restaurant. Jake re-enters to reunite with his squad after a long time away, and a round-faced man immediately latches onto him.

'Ten minute hug starts now!'

'Uh...thanks Charles, but I'm...'

'Release him, Charles,' commands another voice. A tall man in a police captain's uniform. Charles reluctantly steps back, muttering that he still wants his nine minutes, and the captain pulls Jake aside to discuss his return.

'I heard from the officers on the scene that you've done fine work these last few months, Peralta.'

'Yup! They called me something in Italian that I can only assume means 'awesome genius'.

'...what they called you was vulgar, but only because they were jealous. You rose to the challenge. I'm proud of you.'

The captain smiles and grasps Jake's shoulder. Jake smiles, practically glowing inside...which lasts until Charles tackles him, returning for the rest of that hug. Ah well...

When he wakes, he'll need a moment to recover from whatever he sees.

Spark found himself smiling a bit at the memory, even as he was worried about what Jake might be seeing...

Everyone else had been outside dealing with the maniac that was beating up Dominic and Greg. Like any sensible cat, Spark had stayed inside and watched from the window. After everyone was healed and Dominic, Luna, and Greg came back inside and everyone else left, Spark was there to greet them.

"Boss!" He said to Dominic "I saw what happened out there! Are you guys okay?" If they weren't, no one was going to be in shape to make him fish tonight.

Dominic put his hands in his robe pockets and went into his room with Spark while the others went into the living room. "Not really," Dominic said. "The town sent a royal knight to have us arrested. I don't think we're welcome here anymore."

Spark had seen all that of course, and he had ears. But he knew that his role was to listen when humans needed to talk, and then show them what they missed.

"Whoa," he said, playing his role. "That stinks." And here it came... "But... Doesn't that mean that that you won't have any more customers?" he asked.

He expected Dominic to be happy about that, he knew his human hated this town and working as their Seer. But the man looked like he was in love, and even ran out of the room gleefully to spread the happy news.

Spark shook his head and waited for Dominic to come back in. He didn't have long to wait, there were only two people in the house to tell and only one person outside of the house Dominic didn't hate, and Spark doubted Dominic was heading out to talk to Rachel. He was right. Dominic came back quickly and started changing, eager to get packed and moving.

"Spark, this is going to be great. We'll find a new place to live and visit all my friends along the way!" Spark had hope that said friends would feed him. "But first, my friend I'm going... to... have.... to..."

Well Spark knew THAT look on his human's face.He waited until Dominic was aware of the here and now again.

"Get creeped out by some freaky vision?" he asked once he knew his human could see and hear him again.

Dominic took a seat and Spark moved closer to him. His human was in a bad mood, which usually meant it was a bad vision. Which meant he was going to try and fix a problem. Which usually meant forgetting basic things like food. So, it was up to Spark to remind him and to cheer him up. Thankfully fish could do both. Right?

"So where are we going first, boss? Can we go to Crescent Star Lake?" Okay so Spark was still a little tweaked about being left home last time Dominic had gone there. "I hear the fishing is great there this time of year!"

"Sorry, Spark. We're not going fishing just yet. There's something I've got to take care of." Ugh, if he was still this serious then it was an actual problem. Great. "I've got to look for my brother." Greg was in the other room so that meant... "I need to find Jacob."

Spark knew he could kiss any thought of fish any time soon goodbye. Dominic was never in a good mood when it came to his older brother.

"All right!" Greg said coming in. Spark had to work not to laugh at the look on Dominic's face. "When do we leave?!"

"You can't come along," Dominic said flatly, getting up and pushing away from the desk. Dominic hated Jacob and most of that was because of what Jacob had done to their youngest brother, Gregory. And the fact that Greg still desperately wanted to be friends with both his big brothers.

"You can't come along?" Greg asked. "What's THAT supposed to mean?!"

"It means exactly that. You're not coming with me. Period." Spark knew that usually worked with most people. But he also knew how Greg could be with and about his brothers. "Jacob's already done enough to you. I don't want you going anywhere near him again."

"Dominic, I use white magic," Greg pointed out, "It's like the weapon against the undead! You're a SEER! What are you going to do to one of Jacob's zombies? Stare it into submission?" he asked waggling the fingers of his free hand at Dominic, his other hand gripping his walking stick. Spark wondered if he was aware it still had blood on it from where the knight had used it to beat him up with.

"All right. Fine. You can come with me. Just don't do anything little brother-ish when we find Jacob." Dominic turned to his book case and started going through books. "Now, I'll need to stock up on some offensive spells like Light Bolt and Fireball..." Dominic looked up and saw Luna standing there. "Yes. Yes. You can come too."

Seeing Luna smile was still a new thing. Spark wasn't sure if that meant fish or not. He couldn't read her yet.

What it mostly meant, it turned out, was that Luna and Greg helped Dominic pack without complaining. They didn't have much besides books, so it didn't take long. Spark helped first by finishing their left over fish, then by getting into the magicked bag they were packing to supervise.

"That's the last of your books, bro," Greg said. "These bags are neat! I still can't believe we were able to fit your entire library into just one!"

"It's handy, but the enchantment I used will wear off in about a week so we'll need to buy a cart once we're on the road," Dominic said as Spark poked his head out of the bag.

"So we wear the magic bags until the magic wears off, then buy a wagon to cart our stuff around?" Spark asked. See? Helping! Dominic closed the bag on his head.

They headed out, though Dominic pulled them off the the side of the road as soon as they got uphill over the town. "Spark, get me the scroll that smells like leather, would you?"

"Sure boss." Sark dove deeper into the bag then came up with the scroll in his teeth. Dominic took it from him, and opened it, eyeing it a moment, then the town below.

"Well this is it. I'm finally getting out of Lynn's Brook. There's just one last thing I need to do. I've been preparing this spell for just the right occasion. We'll call this my going away present to a town full of idiots."

"What's it do, boss?" Spark asked.

Dominic ignored him and read off the spell. Nothing seemed to happen. But Dominic, apparently satisfied headed back to the road to meet up with Greg and Luna.

"So what does it do, boss?"

"It's a book drop spell," he said as though that made sense. "Alright, gang, this way." He started off down the road, though as soon as the path diverged to a less traveled one, he took the new path.

"Dominic, where exactly are we going?" Luna asked as they moved through their second diversion to a less taken path. Still some foot traffic here, but not much. Spark knew this route and had a pretty good idea of where they were going. "Do you even know where your brother is?"

"Actually I want to visit an old wise friend of mine first. There are some things I need to speak to him about."

Spark was right! Dejah! YAY! They were going to go see Dejah!

"Actually, Mr. Deegan, there are some things we need to speak to you about, first," said a new voice. Well not that new. It belonged to one of the two people that had been with that idiot knight. Spark decided that staying in the bag was best. He couldn't see out, but he couldn't be seen.

"Lord Sigfried is not here, as you requested," the woman said. Odd, why did Spark think his name had been Siggy? "Are you willing to speak with us now?"

"Hmmm... I don't know," Dominic said in his giving someone a hard time voice. "Let me consult with my associates." Spark felt motion, but no one asked him anything. Actually, he didn't hear Dominic ask anyone anything. After a moment the movement settled. "My associates are obviously grinning out of madness and perversion. It might be best for you to keep moving."

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" she asked. Well duh. Her friend tried to kill Dominic, which was bad enough, but he then beat up Greg with his own walking stick. Spark knew how over protective Dominic could be of Greg and was a little surprised that Dominic was willing to talk to them at all.

"Look, Seer," the male said, clearly unaware of how patient Dominic was being, "we don't have time for your nonsense. Three says ago I received a vision that resembled the one you spoke of."

"Hmm," Dominic said. And now he was in his learning interesting things mode. Ugh, they were never going to get to Dejah. "Since you're a Spellwolf, you must have received that vision through Lunar Divination."

"Spell who?" Greg asked. "Lunar something?"

Spark felt that Greg had missed the chance for a great Lunar/Luna joke, since she was standing right there, but he was pretending to not exist still. He'd just find a way to use it later.

"A spellwolf is a spellcasting werewolf. Gregory," Dominic explained. "They can use the phases of the moon as a focus for second sight. So in other words, he's a sorcerer who moonlights as a Seer."

"I can see why people beat you up," the man said. Spark found himself liking the guy already. Nice subtle pun on see to the Seer about seeing!

"Dominic please..." Luna pleaded.

"C'mon, Bro! They need your help!" Greg added.

"All right, all right. I was just teasing them," Dominic said. "Now then... Lord Milov Danovich was it? Tell me abut your vision? What did you see?"

"I saw many people hanging from a great tree," he said. "There was a white haired man in a black cloak. He was staring at them. Now then... Dominic Deegan was it? Does your brother hang around corpses often?"

"Maybe," Dominic said. "Maybe knot. It's noose to me."

"If there is anything you can tell us about the vision or your brother's involvement, we would be in your debt, Mr. Deegan," the woman said.

"The only Great Tree around here is an old oak near the village of Barthis, bit that's at least two days journey on foot."

"And your brother?" Milov asked. "What about him?"

"He could be the one responsible, he could just be a bystand--" he cut off mid word. Spark knew that trail off. Dominic had just had another vision. Were they ever going to get to Dejah? Was he ever going to be fed? Or would he starve to death squished by books when the spell wore off?

"Come, Jayden," Milov said. "LEt's rejoin Sigfried and the horses, we must get to Barthis before - " but Dominic cut him off.

"NO! Wait! You mustn't go to that village! You will both die if you go to Barthis! You'll be hanged alongside all of those people!"

"If we're to die with the villagers, then the hanging hasn't happened yet!" Jayden said, alert.

"Then we may be able to save those people and prevent those murders!" Milov added.

Spark recognized all too well the sound of a palm, hitting a face.

"JAYDEN! Please! Listen to Dominic!" Luna cried. "I don't want you to die!"

"It's alright, Luna," Dominic said. "Let them go. We have to keep moving. Shhh, listen. That hanging isn't going to happen until they get to Barthis. We have plenty of time to visit my old friend."

YAY! They were going to visit Dejah after all!

"Plenty of time?!" Greg demanded. "They're on horseback and we're on foot!"

"Don't worry, they have one obstacle that we don't." That said, they started walking, and from the feel of the bag, swiftly.

"Tell me again why we aren't going straight to that village, bro?" Greg asked, tense.

"I need some questions answered, and there's a friend of mine who may be able to help me," Dominic said.

"Which one? Is it someone I know?" Greg asked.

"No. I've never introduced you to Dejah." YAY!!!! He was right! They were going to see Dejah!!!! "He's much older than me, and I could use his perspective on the visions I've been having."

Okay, it was too much! Spark couldn't pretend to be asleep any more. He popped out of the top of the bag. "He's hoping to get Dejah's view!" he said before anyone else could. Luna's face palm was almost as good as fish!

The further into the woods they got, and the further from any human paths they got, the more excited Spark got. As soon as he could smell Dejah, he hid in the bag again, excited.

"How much longer do we have to walk, Dominic?" Luna asked. Clearly she needed to toughen up, a walk like this was nothing. Of course, he was riding in the bag, but that was beside the point. "I feel like we're in the middle of nowhere."

"Dejah likes privacy," Dominic explained. "His house is around here somewhere. He sets up wards around his home. It shouldn't be long before we come across... one."

Spark peaked out just the tiniest bit to see the huge towering slime monster, then hid again so his purring wouldn't give him away.

"OH MY GOD!" Luna yelled. "DOMINIC GET BACK! IT'S A-"

But Dominic cut her odd. "It's an illusion, Luna. A rather bad one. C'mon, Dejah. Illusions were never your strong suit."

There was a loud Pop and a familiar voice said "Drat. You're absolutely no fun at all."

"Dejah, I'd like you to meet my brother Gregory, and Luna Travoria, my lovely assistant." Spark wasn't sure if the adjective was there to boost Luna's low self esteem or because Dominic was in heavy crush over her.

"Dominic? Your friend is a slime?! I was told they are the lowliest creatures in the world!" Luna protested.

"That's funny," Dejah said, "because I was told that the Travoria family is a clan of spoiled brats and dullards. Let's make it a point to prove the rumors wrong, all right? Dejah took a breath, and then spoke again as Spark felt Dominic kneeling down. Which he'd have to, since Dejah was about the size of Dominic's fist."It's very nice to see you again, Dominic, but where's Spark?"

Spark was touched by the concern in his friend's voice and responded as only a cat could. He jumped out of the bag and launched himself at the small slime.

"DEJAH!"

"SPARK!" Dejah cried happily, bouncing to meet him halfway in the air. They landed and Spark set to the serious business of licking his friend's head to make him laugh. Dejah had the best laugh ever and he tasted yummy!

"Y...You're l...licking a...a...a... slime?" Luna asked, horrified.

"He tastes like jelly,"Spark informed her happily while Dejah cuddled close to him.

Spark bent down and picked up Dejah. "Dejah, I need your advise on some visions I've had. IS there a place we can talk?"

"Well," Dejah said, "We can talk in my home. You know, the underground cave with the oozing walls and dripping ceiling? I'll have to consult my worm infested books and scrolls of muck, but I'm sure your friends will get used to the smell."

"EWWWWWW!" Luna yelled, trying hard not to be sick, apparently.

"I'm sorry, Dominic," Dejah said as Spark settled in for a nap. "It was just so easy."

...yeah, Jake's reeling when he reawakens in the cave. Being a cat sure is exhausting. Always worried about fish, always finding the right pun, comforting human friends...and licking slime friends? His nose twitches and he makes a face.

"...please tell me your buddy likes the licking thing."

"Which buddy?" Spark asked, calming a little. If that was the question it was probably a memory of him being a cat at least. Probably. Hopefully. He... didn't remember licking anyone as Gar or Privateer Pirate, anyway.... But the Storms were weeeeiiird....

"...Dejah, I think? You were with some guy named Dominic who sees the future, and he got exiled for it, so you had to go hide out somewhere else?"

Right? It was a lot to follow. "I guess slime's almost fish-like."

So much relief. And his smile was huge. "Dejah! Yeah, he likes being licked. And he tastes like jelly. And Dominic didn't get exiled for being s Seer. That was probably when we left Lynn's Brook. Basically Dominic hated that place, the people hated him, but they still came to get him to look into the future for them. Stupid questions. And none of them ever were smart enough to pay in fish. Anyway, Greg came to visit after Luna came to stay with us. Luna and Greg went out and got attacked. Luna scared the idiots and got back home. It took me forever to calm everyone down." And Greg spent the night in his couch fort, but no reason to mention.... that....

Greg. Gar looked just like Greg, but with different hair and eye color. Uh oh. He was going to have to not be Gar for a while.... Not good.

He forced himself to continue. "Finally Dominic got calmed down and was going to make fish but a huge mob came to try and burn us out. Dominic scared them all off with a oracle about what would happen if they attacked." A bit of a feline grin. "He never mentioned that it was our fate, not theirs, he was foretelling. They ran off and called a Knight to come deal with him. And Siggy didn't have two braincells to put together and was a bigot besides who already almost got Luna to kill herself." Someone still was angry at Siggy, okay?

"Anyway, Siggy beat up Dominic, then when Greg tried to help him, he stole Greg's walking stick and beat him up. Luna came out to try to help. I, like a smart cat, stayed inside where it was safe. But there was a priestess and a spellwolf with Siggy and the priestess, Jayden, stopped him and healed everyone. But it was clear we shouldn't stay there any more...."

"Oh geez," Jake's face falls. He absolutely does not approve of bullying, and he knows what other officers can be like. The worst.

"I'm glad you made it out. Nobody should be treated that way."

"Yeah, agreed. Luckily things got fixed, now."

Jake straightens his posture and takes a breath. "I guess that...wasn't so terrible? We have to do this one more time, right?"

"Yeah. Hopefully it'll go purrfectly."

"Of course you'd say that," Jake mutters, a little smile tugging up at the corner of his mouth.

He breathes, smiles...and he's out on the other side again. He has a little more to think about on this last day, and just when he thinks it's over...

This time, the memory is a little different. Jake and Spark stand together, and rather than Spark seeing through his eyes...they're both watching from the outside, as if watching a TV show.

Jake's standing in an apartment hallway. He knocks on a door, and an older man in his pajamas opens it.

"Jake! I'm...sorry I couldn't make it to the party, I'm subbin for a buddy who's got an early flight. I'm sure you're upset," the older man says, clearly clamoring for an excuse.

"Actually I'm not upset at all," Jake answers with a curt shake of his head.

"Yeah?" the man smiles hopefully. "Great!"

This time, disdain creeps into Jake's expression. "No, more relieved. You know, you were always my hero, but I think I'm finally starting to see you for who you really are. A regional airline pilot whose landings are the worst, and a pretty selfish guy who genuinely doesn't care about being a dad."

"Jake, you don't understand. There was a downdraft on the runway it's not my fault," his father protests. Jake rolls his eyes and mouths an 'oh wow'.

And when Jake finally speaks again, his disgust is clear. "Look, I've been making excuses for you my whole life, but you're a pretty awful father. And until you're ready to be a good one, don't call me."

He turns on his heel and walks away, and as the ghostly Jake pushes past the real one and Spark...all that disgust on his face crumples into sadness.

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Sorry for the lack of icons, paid expired.

no worries!

Re: no worries!

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Cw: Police brutality, sort of.

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