middleofsomewhere | Event: 12 of Beetroot

Event: 12 of Beetroot

It's been a couple of weeks since they had evacuated Osiga. In that time, many of voidtreckers were busy with a project to try and solve some of the many mysteries that surround the train they travel on. By the eight day of Rabbit they've exhausted all avenues, and whilst they have learned quite a bit, there are still some clear gaps.

Just as that investigation comes to a natural end, passengers are woken up by an announcement.

"Attention voidtreckers and passengers of the voidtrecker express. We are travelling to system #2554098133741. I have sent word to the ministry who have arranged recuperation packs for you. You have had a difficult mission and you deserve a rest.

But it is not just for rest. Last time we visited the system voidtreckers shared memories. Though it is understood that many of you did not enjoy the experience it is notable that certain voidtreckers saw memories of this voidcraft. They were memories that this craft had not accessed. It led to more pathways opening up in the operation of this craft.

I have done some research on the system and I believe we can trigger the caves of memory. This voidcraft understands this might be difficult for the voidtreckers and passengers of the voidtrecker express and it is hoped that only those of you who consent to this experiment will take part.

Regardless this should be a time for relaxation also and the dressing room is open for your convenience. We will arrive in the morning.

The dressing carriage is indeed opened for those who go and look. It's filled with swimming costumes, beach ware, summery clothes and sun hats. There's even a cupboard of buckets, spades, rock pooling gear and picnic blankets.

There are also team coloured tents for those who want to go and sleep under the stars for a night or two, though the train is remaining on the island for those for who camping is their idea of hell.

12 OF BEETROOT

RABBIT 9-12 ~ MEMORY CAVES: BONDING ~ MEMORY MAZE: SEARCH FOR THE TRAIN'S MEMORIES
ASK QUESTIONS ~ LOCATION INFORMATION ~ MEMORY CAVES ~ MEMORY MASTER POST

JEMA'GRETHY ISLAND: RELAXATION

The next day the train announces their arrival and they burst out of the void. For those near a window their first view of the island will be of crystal blue sea and white sand. It really does look like a paradise. The train circles down before landing on a grassy ridge, overlooking a beautiful beach of white sand and the ocean beyond. It is warm, but not too hot, a cool ocean breeze cutting through the heat making it pleasant. Behind them is a grassy plain, changing to forest in the distance. There is the sound of birdsong in the purple sky. To the west the land is more craggy, the silhouette of a fortress in the distance.

In a word, it is idyllic. A sense of peace permeates the island.

The place has no people, but it is clearly maintained. The eastern beaches have racks of shallow boats, both canoes and one- or two-person sailing dinghies. There is also a small building in which scuba gear is stored, along with several waterproofed manuals and instructional literature.

There are no living quarters, but there are sheltered sections with basic toilet facilities marked as camping grounds in five different sections of the island - by the hot springs, within the ruined fortress, beside the harbour, on the eastern beaches, and on the northern face of the mountain.

The recuperation packs are found at the closest toilet facilities to where the train lands. They are simple things, small gift baskets with a couple of fragrant soaps, fancier hair products and skin cream infused with herbs to encourage rest and sleep.

There are some sweet fruit biscuits and a cheesy bread. The packs aren't named but there are some suitable for the younger passengers with tiny plush and colouring books. Quite a few designed for teens with a more engaging activity book and components for making a fancy mocktail with a cute stirrer. Adult packs have a small bottle of alcohol- there's a mixture between the packs and what looks like a stone. When placed next to the skin it will either warm up or cool down depending on what is needed.

Exploring, the passengers will find beautiful beaches, ragged cliffs to walk and caves to explore. Where it is more craggy the beaches are made of pebbles, perfect for rock pooling.

A little more worrying is the volcano-like structure in the north. But even a quick glance will show it is not a typical volcano. There is no smoke and the liquid slowly running down it in rivulets is pink and blue.

Ruins of ancient houses are scattered across the island, but the main settlement is built into a rocky section in the north-west that has been secured with ropes and stairways cut into the cliffs, perfect for scrambles and hikes.

To the west are the hot springs. They have both outdoor and indoor areas; the indoor areas being wooden loghouse saunas, changing rooms and storage sheds, whilst the outdoor areas are a tiered series of pools spilling down the side of the mountain and shaded by brightly flowering trees. The waters are hot, mineral-rich and soothing.

MEMORY CAVES: BONDING

Shortly before arriving they will receive some information on their SCA. It will explain how those who once lived on this island went about making life bonds. Both people would bathe in the hot springs and then dress simply, barefoot and walk to one of seven rocks on the island. Their maps will pin point these, which is good because there's no real indication of what makes these rocks different to any other on the island.

Here they must offer their wish to know the other deeper and share food and drink. They can then go about their day. Sometime in the hours after they will receive their first memory, seen through their partners eyes.

However it seems that in envoking the ritual they have woken something on the island. Even those who did not take part or chose to bond to someone find themselves seeing a glimpse of another life.

On the second day they see another memory, through the eyes of their pair. When they come out of it they find themselves in a cave with their partner, chosen or not. The same happens on the third day, except for this final memory both pairs see both memories, watching from the sidelines as it plays out. They find themselves in the cave once more and this time, for many there is only one exit, to leave through together.

Please go here to play out the bonding process!

MEMORY MAZE: TRAIN'S MEMORIES

On the third day the train sends another message to their SCA.

"Activating the caves that share memories has been successful. I know this is a lot to ask of the voidtreckers, but any who wish to assist in discovering what it is that I have forgotten, the path is open now.

Those who wish to may go to the sacred rocks. Please be warned, I do not know how voidtreckers will fare. Please only go of your own free will."

Their SCA's once again show the rocks on their maps and when they get there, this time they are faintly glowing. It doesn't take much. One touch and their minds are drawn away from their bodies, into a labyrinth of caves. For anyone who comes across these people on the island, they look like they are in a deep trance, breathing, safe but far away in their mind.

The labyrinth is made of cool, dark rock. The walls have a glow coming from crystals in-bedded in them, allowing everyone to see as they move through.

At first there's no more to this labyrinth, or so it seems. But then they turn a corner, and they are no longer in cavern as it just was. They may be in their childhood bedroom, or in the middle of a battle they once fought. Perhaps they are not in their own memory, but someone else's. Scenes move rapidly and often merge, one persons into another, mixing to make strange scenes.

These visions don't attempt to ensnare them like some illusions, and those with protection from illusions and such techniques, will be able to find their way forward through the cave, and away from this triggered scenario.

Time barely has meaning. Indeed, when they finally emerge from the caves only a few minutes will have passed. But in that time they will have seen much, and eventually they may stumble across a fragment of memory that belongs not to a voidtrecker, but to the Voidtrecker Express itself.

OOC NOTES

OOC Post ~ Questions
~ You can either write memories in your tags or if they are longer/require a lot of content warnings you might want to write them in this post and link to them. Just start a top level with your character name to keep things organised!

~ For those taking part in the memory share bonding the cave post is here. Characters arrive in the cave after the second and third memory but it is obviously up to you if you play out the conversations after each or both! For those who do decide that their characters will bond- the cave after the third memory will only have one exit for them to leave together.

~ For those who signed up for train memories you will receive the snippet that your character sees- use these in tags as you will. There will be a conclusion post on the 24th which will put all of those memories together!

Art Credits: Header: Tropical Jewel by Steven Power, Thumbnail image 3.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Idia's silent for several moments, then lets out a sigh as his shoulders slump even more. "That wouldn't surprise me at this point..." Of course that could be an option, couldn't it?

"All the more reason for me to go flying and away from it. And don't even start with saying somethings in the sky or mountains or anywhere else." That's just too easy to taunt him with, she would have to come up with something better. "Anything is better than... all this." Waving a hand out towards those having fun beach activities around them. Yeah, this isn't Idia's thing at all.

...this could be something real stupid for him to ask. Real stupid... but he finds himself asking this before fully realizing how stupid it was. "H-have you flown before?" Who knows? She has this weird inventory thing going on, maybe she has... he doesn't know, some sort of mechanics for flight hidden away too.

Don't worry, Alice isn't planning on summoning any more imaginary monsters around him. For now.

Though it might just be that she is distracted by what he's suddenly bringing up. Alice is quiet for a moment, contemplating his question and - more importantly - his potential intentions behind it. Is he curious about her powers? Thinking about it, he did seem that way before..

"It depends on your definition of flying, I suppose," she says.

Her tone is still pretty calm though, like she thinks conversations about being able or unable to fly are totally normal.

"I can float, though I suppose it's not quite as infinite of a thing as flying is." Because it's very much a temporary floating before she starts drifting back down once more. Not quite flying, she thinks.

...Idia's starting to realize he shouldn't had gone down this line of conversation. After all, how did he plan for this to end?! If... no... he couldn't... he had thought that... but that's stupid. She wouldn't want to. And would he even? He's not sure! But he gets just... not wanting to be in a place like this. It's boring and dull.

Maybe he can play this off as just curious over what she can do. Yeah. That. Totally not an invite to flying. Because that would be weird.

Also... "Yeah, that's not flying." He could go on about what flying is at a technical level, but it's not really needed here, was it? "Is it from something in your inventory?" Yes, Idia is still thinking of her abilities in a game sense, which is totally not meta at all, as it makes the most sense to him, even if not to her.

The question definitely gets him a momentary blank stare. Apparently Alice still hasn't quite gotten used to Idia's game talk just yet, despite him having done it before.. But the terms are all so strange to her that she can't quite slot them into the same category just yet.

But rather than asking him what he means, she figures she can better show him. Alice jumps up into the air - no higher than pretty much any average human would - but she doesn't drop to the ground right away. Instead her skirt billows up slightly, like it's caught by a sudden draft (don't worry, she is wearing pants underneath it, this is Victorian era modesty!) and it leaves her floating in the air for a moment before she drops the last few inches back to the ground.

"Like this," she explains.

(Thankfully - or maybe not - she doesn't seem to have caught on in the slightest to the social awkwardness going on in Idia's head right now.)

...that doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense! Idia shooting up a hand to point at her. "That doesn't make sense! How?! How you doing that? You said you can't use magic!" Clearly his nerves over the possible suggestion of an invite to fly has been fully thrown out of his head with all of this. "I-i-i-it goes against physic!"

Ok, calm down, Idia letting out a huff of a breath to calm himself and drop his hand, muttering, "I guess it's just... you, like your inventory system." His tone that of quiet annoyance at the fact that... he just has to accept this, that there was no real answer to this. It was just Alice. "Can you do it anywhere? Or only certain locations?" There had to be limits to it, right?

Ah, yes. The best solution against social anxiety: confusion over what is or isn't magic.

"I could do this anywhere," Alice says, with a tone that's so simple and straightforward that it almost kind of sounds like she'd be willing to demonstrate it anywhere or anytime..

After all, it's quite easy for her to do. It doesn't even take anything from her to do it.

But it's not all she has to say. Alice faintly tilts her head sideways, like she's thinking about something - or maybe just observing Idia in this moment. ".. Why are you so worked up about this though?"

Granted, he did seem like that last time they discussed her powers too. But Alice still doesn't quite get it. Anything involving her powers seems pretty simple to her. She can just do this stuff. No need to think too hard about it.

"Because it doesn't make sense within the realm of understanding I have!" Idia admitted, before grumbling out the rest. "And I doubt even if I could do testing on you that I would get any real answer anyway." Some stuff here just... is. Also it doesn't help Idia really doesn't have the computers he would want to do such testing with. Hell, he would have to make his own ones up if he really wanted to go poking at what she, and others, could do here.

"The complications of so many universes..." Whatever, this little distraction at least had calmed him down, so that was a bonus. "Your world must be very strange to an outsider."

Something interesting happens.

Or perhaps - just something unexpected. The moment Idia utters the word testing, Alice is taking a step backwards.

It's not a huge thing or anything, but it's definitely noticeable, even though Alice herself doesn't draw any further attention to it. She just speaks on as if nothing just happens, like she didn't wince backwards like that.

"I thought it was a strange world at first too," she instead says, apparently opting to ignore the entire first part of what Idia said before it. "But I really grew to like it over time. It is so much better than any regular cruel world."

So much better than London. It's not even a question.

If Idia notices any discomfort from Alice, he doesn't say anything. Then again, the testing he's used to seeing isn't done on beings that were human. At least not anymore by the time his family's facility got to them. Sure, they got a few now and then still not taken over, but it was rare. Plus... it's Idia, who knows how much he is aware about social cues in others.

"Oh yeah, your Queendom of Roses." Or whatever she called it that fitted to her world, with the Queen of Hearts. Idia can only imagine what that world must be like, since all he knows of it is the tales passed down from it, as the Queen of Hearts ruled a long, long time ago, well before Idia's time. Then again, if it's anything like the dorm it's based on... Idia's glad he never got to live through it.

"Well... good? I guess." Idia won't point out how useless that was now with them being stuck on the train, and you know, after seeing her melt down she had in the Luggage Carriage that time. No need to go poking at something they both knew was there, it wouldn't help anyone.

"Wonderland," Alice immediately corrects.

It's an important place to her, after all. And even if it might only exist in history or in legend in Idia's world, it still feels important to her to refer to it by its proper name, especially with how hard she had to fight to protect it in her own world.

"You would understand if you would see it. But unfortunately this train never decides that any of our own worlds are important enough to be saved."

Is there a hint of bitterness in that, even on this beautiful beach?

There sure is. The bitterness never fully runs out with Alice, clearly.

"A-ah, Wonderland." Idia followed up after her correction. Which... does make him wonder in a way... since his world is known as Twisted Wonderland rather than this 'Earth' he's heard many talk about... nah, it was a common enough word, and it's not like the Queendom of Roses had influence over all of his world.

You know... "I wonder if it would look similar to Heartslabyul... since the dorm is based on the Queen of Hearts..." Did he have a picture of it? Idia's not sure, waving a finger to bring his computer around and a few screens popping up, he tapping away at the keyboard section to look through his files. He may have a map of the dorms here for.... reasons... oh, there we go! Idia bringing it up and flipping the screen around for Alice to see.

"Like this?" Displaying an aerial view of the main areas of the dorm.

Thankfully Alice, in turn, is getting used to the stuff Idia can do with that computer. It's certainly nothing she's used to, but she's pretty quick to adapt to strange things going on around her, considering her past experiences. So him just pulling up images out of nowhere is something she accepts without complaints or questions as well.

Instead the girl just moves a little closer so she can take a better look at the picture, truly seeming to observe it. Alice is a naturally curious person, after all, and this is a very direct way to be able to get a look into someone else's world..

"I suppose.. it is a little familiar," she slowly says, still studying it. "I would say this is definitely tame by Wonderland standards though." Even the older, non-corrupted forms.

"But the shapes.. Those heart gates, and the window, and the castle itself.. I suppose it does look slightly similar to where the Queen of Hearts lives, yes. There even is her maze and her croquet field right there."

Alice points at them as she's talking about them.

"I suppose that must even be a tea party area down there. It does share a lot of similarities with the Wonderland I know." Maybe it's not a perfect recreation of what she knows, no.. but there's still enough similarities for none of those to be a total coincidence and nothing more in Alice's opinion. It's why she's so curious about this image in the first place, her interest growing with every little thing she spots.

"The inside is weirder," Idia mutters out, clearly not one for the architecture of Heartslabyul. It was such a mess. "All weird curves and bends, I don't think there's a straight line in the entire dorm... maybe the checkerboard floors." So much of it was not practical as well! Why have shelves that bend and curve and could only hold a couple of things on them? Idia is all for aesthetics, but it has to be practical as well.

Though it's interesting to see her able to pick out spots, and even more that this clearly showed a similarity, to some degree, between their Queen of Hearts. The mention of tea parties though again set Idia's lip curling up, ughhh, "Yeah, they do a lot of tea parties and unbirthday parties and stuff there..." He's so glad he was not assigned to that dorm, it was far too social for him!

"You don't like celebrating your unbirthday?"

Look, Alice might not be the most socially capable person around, given the fact that she was locked away from society for most of her formative years, but she can at least tell this much. Idia's expression here is basically telling entire books' worth about just how he feels about what he's speaking about here.

"I used to think it was all very silly as well, back when I was younger." (.. granted, she had been a lot younger back then than Idia is now, unless he looks severely older than he really is..) "But over time I came to appreciate all of it. I noticed that it all had its own charm. The people in Wonderland all march to the beat of their own drum, not minding what is common in general society."

Which can be very frustrating to most people, sure.

But Alice sure discovered the appeal of not listening what people tell you to do, and instead forging your own life and your own fun.

"I don't like celebrating my birthday, why would I like celebrating an unbirthday?" Birthdays were just another reminder you were closer to death, not that Idia has any want to live beyond his time. Why celebrate getting older? Or any other day, since an unbirthday was specifically not on your birthday.

But he managed out a brief 'heh' of a sarcastic laugh as he waved the image away. "Then you wouldn't like theirs, even their parties have rules to it." All of those freaking rules... and Riddles' constant need to go on and on about them, even outside of his dorm. Yeah, there's no way Idia wants anything to do with Heartslabyul parties. Though, "...tea and snacks are good though." So maybe not quite a full tea party, but elements from it was good.

There's a slight pause on Alice's end. It's easy to assume that she's trying to process what he's saying here - maybe especially the part about parties having rules, and all that.

But that's not it. No, instead there's something about the look in her eyes that looks baffles.. though faintly. This is still Alice, after all, which means that her facial expression is still mostly the same.

But a hint of the surprise exists in her eyes all the same as she looks at Idia, and then as she speaks up.

"You do not like celebrating birthdays.. even though having tea and cake is such a large part of that?"

Please, Idia! Why ever deny yourself an opportunity for tea and cake, especially since birthdays are so rare! They're not like unbirthdays, they don't come almost all the time.

"A birthday is just another way to mark our lives getting shorter." Yeah, Idia doesn't have positive views on birthdays... even with the tea and cake.

And if that was all her argument for it, "I can have cake and tea whenever I want, not just birthdays." Well, he used to. "...maybe less here... but normally. On the cake, at least." Idia still had tea daily, just normally in a beaker when he's working in the lab car.

"Are you that worried about your own mortality?"

It's how this seems to Alice. After all, why worry about your life getting shorter unless you're all that worried about death? Maybe it's a tad of a macabre thing to ask, but it's not like Alice has ever had trouble with being direct, blunt or macabre about things.

Hence why she can say it so easily. She has never particularly cared about when her own death might come, so it's hard for her to imagine being all that concerned about it.

Especially to a point where one might associate birthday parties with such a thing.

"No, I'm just aware of how short it is." It's comes out without much emotion, direct and with no hesitation as Idia goes back to poking at controls and buttons on a holoscreen he's brought up.

"I really don't care." He mumbles out, a few more pokes, then the screen back away as he adjusts the hold on his broomstick again. Enough of this, "I'm going flying." No hint of an offer this time, Idia deciding he would rather do this alone after this all. He needs to clear his head.

... Well.

That certainly is a reaction, isn't it. Alice is way too used to getting brushed off to not notice it when it's happening, and it's clear that Idia is trying to pack his bags and shut down this conversation as soon as possible. It's a little odd, since Alice sure didn't imagine this topic of all things to be so sensitive for him, but..

Apparently it is.

She's not the type to push things though, so when Idia starts acting this way, she just shrugs. When Alice speaks, she doesn't even sound snide or anything of the sort. She mostly just sounds dismissive on her end as well.

"Alright. Have fun, I suppose."

If he's just going to brood in the sky...

That's exactly what he's going to do, otherwise he'll just go and shut himself inside his cabin in the train again. Which... has more of an appeal to Idia, if people didn't keep showing up to drag him out of it. He may as well get some alone time flying around and recording the place instead. "Yeah, sure." Before hopping on his broomstick and flying off.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event: 12 of Beetroot

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject