[ Tremors run through her self-confidence even though Yuri knows what she says is true. Her conscience shaken up by the crackles in her features for just a moment. None of this should be new to Yuri. She worked in that corporation that managed all sorts of undying monsters--the difference is that she cares for Rosamund and it hurts. ]
... I know, Rosamund. I know how dangerous the briars could be. You were always getting hurt because of them. It made hugs awkward because you didn't want to hurt anyone with them either. This isn't a joke. We're being serious. Please...
[ She wouldn't bat an eye at strangers being munched alive by a bus, but for someone she cares about, she looks like she's almost on the verge of tears. ]
[This solemn tone is grating on her. They've got to be joking though. That's ridiculous. They're having this whole party together to celebrate the upcoming wedding. And she invited them specifically.]
You — you brought me gifts, for heaven's sake!
[Because participation makes this real.
Once again the party dims. Rosamund doesn't notice that the guests are gone and the briars extend high over all their heads. High enough to hold the prince and his horse above the ground. The horse has been dead for days, entrails spilling and drawing flies, making a stench. He's been slowly bleeding to death in the thorns, on his own sword, partially impaled.
"Are you the Princess Rosamund of Reverie?"
A more familiar vision of their friend has run to his side, greeting him in confusion and horror. There is no one else with her. "Yes."
"Hello."
"Hi. What's your name?" The Prince swallows a breath in. His head suddenly drops down. "Okay, wake up. Keep- Stay awake."
"I'm Prince Jonathan...of the Kingdom of Apogee. I heard from a wise woman that you were in danger in the castle."
Then there's a fluttering of wings. Large but not so bird-like.
"Hello, sweet girl."
Eight fairies, beautiful and strange, and in one case moth-like and frightful, all light around Rosamund. Their keen eyes are fixed on her. There's important business to discuss.
Except the party flashes back in. The Rosamund before them looks on the verge of tears, her eyes darting between theirs.]
Stop talking like that. We're going to be happy together.
[ nodd sets a hand on yuri's shoulder, gives her an encouraging squeeze. it's mostly for her sake, to help her hold back the tears as they implore rosamund to accept the truth. but it would be a lie if it wasn't somewhat for himself as he sees that flash of a horse pierced through, bled dry. poor jonathan close to becoming the poor beast's twin, encased in thorns. ]
But it didn't happen. You know that. You know we met on the Eudora long after your prince couldn't rescue you.
[ It's okay, Rosamund. Jonathan is coming over, completely worried and concerned to hear his beloved raise her voice.
"May I ask what is happening here?"
While he doesn't blame them for her outburst, he would like to resolve whatever conflict is happening. He can't have his fiancee upset during her bachelorette party? Rosamund's friends are also growing concerned, asking what is wrong here. The fairies turn their heads, though her parents are too occupied with how to decorate this part of their castle.
So many people here care about Rosamund. They love her... That is palpable and undeniable.
But the scene shifts again. Inside a castle, briars abound, corpses of men—princes—strewn about like a warning to all those who ever dare to approach Reverie. They are her tomb. They are her protector.
The party returns and they're faced with Jonathan. Jonathan who's not in danger, who has romanced Rosamund over time, competed against other princes for her hand, who proposed to her on one knee and asked for her parents' blessing. Rather than her fate, this man is supposed to be her choice.
She didn't need to sacrifice love for agency...
The party stays, but slowly the briars start slithering along the floor, the walls, and the ceiling like they have a life of their own. ]
[But her voice trembles now. Though she turns to Jonathan with an outstretched hand she flinches when there's a shift.
Her eyes don't focus on it, not quite yet. She can't think about it too hard, you see. It was the whole kingdom. Hundreds and thousands of people buried in briars. After a hundred years, only one clawed and bled her way out.
But she has Jonathan, and she does have her friends, even if they're clearly acting weird. The mounting panic means nothing. She doesn't see the green tendrils snaking in around her. She doesn't.]
If I choose to be happy, all I have to do is fall asleep, and let him wake me up. I don't have to choose anything.
Right?
[She turns to her true love with a smile that twitches at the end.]
If I choose to give it up, then I could end up alone and miserable. Just like real people do.
[ nodd exhales, audible, although not at the level of a full sigh. ]
It's all right, Yuri. You've been really strong today. I'll take this.
[ a gentle pet to the back of her head. he steps forward, encroaching upon rosamund and her doting betrothed. ]
Jonathan is dead, Rosie. You lived, but not because a prince came and saved you. I don't know if it was a curse or the fairies or what, but you didn't get this party.
[ he will lift a godsdamn hand if that figment of a dead prince tries to interrupt him ]
You're alive and it's time to stop playing with ghosts or you're gonna hurt your real, breathing friends.
[ Oh. Yuri looks up and sees Nodd confront Rosamund about it. She kicks him a quick nod and then goes off to fend off the briars. Time to get that gun out, though she tries to do this discreetly and trying to shoot at the briars at very close range as if she's applying pest control. ]
[ As Nodd takes the front, the briars get angry... Or perhaps they are elated. The truth brings them back into the story and here they come to take all these people with them. At their touch, they become skeletons, memoirs of the past. They don't have eyes, so they grow and threaten to impale and harm Nodd and Yuri. Some of the branches and thorns are blasted away into ashes, but they continue to propagate and spread like a plague.
...
Jonathan doesn't even get to interrupt, not that he would, since he's confused as he listens. Instead, he calls for assistance and takes out his sword. Unfortunately, so many of the people are taken and turned into remnants. Gritted teeth, concern and worry swathed over his features, he turns to Rosamund. He will protect you, Rosamund—no, they can protect Reverie together.
It's a sweet dream, but the truth. As Nodd says, as it echoes, Jonathan does not live.
The briars take him, lifting him up by the wrist and ankles. They take his sword, too. He struggles in their hold, resisting valiantly like a prince should, but the blade rises.
[Its not that she wants her living friends to be hurt instead.]
No!
[It's that anyone had to be hurt at all.
Rosamund runs after a man she's met once, whose fate she doesn't know. She'd left him cradled in the briars that day, after rejecting the fairies' offer. She could have returned to her happy story, lent them her aid and set everyone back on the paths they've always been, Once Upon a Time after time after time.
Instead she traded it for something that wasn't exactly better. Just more fair.
She tries to climb the briars. Her hands slick with blood at once. She remembers the blaster suddenly, fumbling for it at her waist and shooting at the thorns carrying him away.]
He doesn't deserve this either! He deserves a better story! He shouldn't have to die just to be in mine!
[ he's so close to catching her sleeve, but she eludes him, racing after the man that should have saved her or been saved by her. there's a sense of ownership to their diverging destinies he can't place. the briar moves swift and brutal, intent on tearing jonathan apart and probably rosie in the process. ]
Shit.
[ he runs after her and grabs rosamund's arm, narrowly avoiding a shot to the stomach. a new hug, tight. nodd is very much the opposite of a prince, but we don't actually all get what we deserve whoops. ]
Kid, please. He doesn't, but he did. You're alive and you gotta let it be. So the three--
[ .....where are you amaltheamichellesomeone..... ]
There's no reason to be discreet now, so she is careful to shoot the briars around Jonathan even if it may be a foregone conclusion. That said, she does a good job at trying to protect herself from them, but she only has one gun that she doesn't have full mastery in and that she's only one person who is trying to do multiple things at the same time, which is also trying to cover for Rosanund and Nodd. Which is why her side gets impaled with a briar and she gets some cuts to her face by thorns by a narrow dodge.
But she keeps trucking on, shooting the briars that attack her. She's not here to die. ]
[ Rosamund bloodies herself for the future this man could have... It doesn't need to be with her. The blaster does obliterate some of the briars, but there are so many of them. They are the ward of the castle and even if he were meant to conquer them they snatch Jonathan with more thorny vines.
Rosamund knows already... This is the truth. She knows that he has to die. The fairies are there and they watch her. They encourage her to save him—this is her story. He is made for her story, not his own.
Nodd takes hold of Rosamund, which gives the briars time to impale him onto his own sword. In short seconds, the life in him drains... They recreate that scene that she remembers so clearly, cradled on the brink of death.
Yuri!! Starts blasting! And she does well to keep them at bay despite her injuries, but she can only keep shooting for so long. The blasters have limited ammo, despite running on energy.
It's then when they hear a voice, a familiar one from earlier. It's Amalthea's. ]
Wake up!
[ And like that the briars disappear and as they do, Rosamund, Nodd, and Yuri watch the prince take his last breath. Happily ever after—gone. They're now in an empty garden full of dirt and weeds, no signs of life. Not even a sound, but someone is very loud.
Amalthea is here, expression and body language so much different from before. She's animated, emotive, and she's FUSSING over all of them. ]
Oh, no no no no no. Look at you guys... All bloody.
[ She's fetching the first aid kit immediately.
The manor is disappearing... And it looks like they're back on the ship they were in earlier.
Congratulations on mission clear!!! Feel free to keep tagging just to like check up on each other, etc. ]
[The shift is terrible to bear. Rosamund shivers on the spot. She looks to the blood in hands. Then to Nodd, to Amalthea.
And then...oh god no.]
Yuri!
[Rosamund rushes, her own panic forgotten for the moment as she kneels to help her friend.
Swirling in their minds, they may remember the true version of this memory. A deal struck with a person not once seen within, and the acceptance of her fate thereafter.]
[ nodd releases rosamund once they awaken(?) in the garden which becomes the ship. he would have hung onto her while the vines eclipsed them as well, intent on appealing to spirit over fighting the memory mansion on its own terms.
but, thankfully, rosie broke free of the farce.
he hurries to yuri. his own aches from reliving an old beating are truly faded. rosamund's door cured him well enough to fit the setting of a party and then he was merely scratched by the thorns.
We should get her back and to the medbay.
[ assuming her injuries are sticking around??? aahhh!!! ]
[ The previous doors were fickle, changing Yuri's appearance to however it suited them at the time. Alex's blood still soaked her clothes, a faint scent of pine, and the injuries of the briars all stick to Yuri. The first aid that Amalthea gets helps a little, but now that the briars are gone and nothing is plugging her wound, she is... bleeding out. (yay) She feels lightheaded...
Though she sees the true memory for Rosamund, she can't bring herself to comment on it right now. She just needs to focus on staying awake and alive. ]
[ NAUR... HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO REACT TO BOTH THE MEMORY AND YURI BLEEDING OUT. Quickly, she wraps Yuri up tight and snug. ]
Okay, Yuri! Hang in there! Stay awake, okay?!
[ Amalthea will let Nodd and Rosamund help. Pressure! Pressure! Hold the pressure while she takes out what looks like an epipen (do not ask me the science) and gives Yuri a little shot near the injury. It should stabilize her until they get back to the Eudora. So off-schedule dying today. ]
[Memory is not important their goodest girl is McDying.
Or not, thanks to some fast acting and modern medicine, the blood is staved and the wound is cared for as best as it can be before they return. Rosamund brushes the hair from Yuri's forehead, resting her head in her lap as they make their return.]
I'm sorry, Yuri, I thought it was going to be something different. [More along the lines of Nodd's, a battle gone horrifically wrong. Foolish of her to think she could predict the manor's moves.] I fell for it and let you get hurt.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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... I know, Rosamund. I know how dangerous the briars could be. You were always getting hurt because of them. It made hugs awkward because you didn't want to hurt anyone with them either. This isn't a joke. We're being serious. Please...
[ She wouldn't bat an eye at strangers being munched alive by a bus, but for someone she cares about, she looks like she's almost on the verge of tears. ]
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[This solemn tone is grating on her. They've got to be joking though. That's ridiculous. They're having this whole party together to celebrate the upcoming wedding. And she invited them specifically.]
You — you brought me gifts, for heaven's sake!
[Because participation makes this real.
Once again the party dims. Rosamund doesn't notice that the guests are gone and the briars extend high over all their heads. High enough to hold the prince and his horse above the ground. The horse has been dead for days, entrails spilling and drawing flies, making a stench. He's been slowly bleeding to death in the thorns, on his own sword, partially impaled.
"Are you the Princess Rosamund of Reverie?"
A more familiar vision of their friend has run to his side, greeting him in confusion and horror. There is no one else with her. "Yes."
"Hello."
"Hi. What's your name?" The Prince swallows a breath in. His head suddenly drops down. "Okay, wake up. Keep- Stay awake."
"I'm Prince Jonathan...of the Kingdom of Apogee. I heard from a wise woman that you were in danger in the castle."
Then there's a fluttering of wings. Large but not so bird-like.
"Hello, sweet girl."
Eight fairies, beautiful and strange, and in one case moth-like and frightful, all light around Rosamund. Their keen eyes are fixed on her. There's important business to discuss.
Except the party flashes back in. The Rosamund before them looks on the verge of tears, her eyes darting between theirs.]
Stop talking like that. We're going to be happy together.
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[ nodd sets a hand on yuri's shoulder, gives her an encouraging squeeze. it's mostly for her sake, to help her hold back the tears as they implore rosamund to accept the truth. but it would be a lie if it wasn't somewhat for himself as he sees that flash of a horse pierced through, bled dry. poor jonathan close to becoming the poor beast's twin, encased in thorns. ]
But it didn't happen. You know that. You know we met on the Eudora long after your prince couldn't rescue you.
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Yuri doesn't say anything despite the encouragement from Nodd. Her gaze falls to the floor and waits for the other shoe to drop. ]
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"May I ask what is happening here?"
While he doesn't blame them for her outburst, he would like to resolve whatever conflict is happening. He can't have his fiancee upset during her bachelorette party? Rosamund's friends are also growing concerned, asking what is wrong here. The fairies turn their heads, though her parents are too occupied with how to decorate this part of their castle.
So many people here care about Rosamund. They love her... That is palpable and undeniable.
But the scene shifts again. Inside a castle, briars abound, corpses of men—princes—strewn about like a warning to all those who ever dare to approach Reverie. They are her tomb. They are her protector.
The party returns and they're faced with Jonathan. Jonathan who's not in danger, who has romanced Rosamund over time, competed against other princes for her hand, who proposed to her on one knee and asked for her parents' blessing. Rather than her fate, this man is supposed to be her choice.
She didn't need to sacrifice love for agency...
The party stays, but slowly the briars start slithering along the floor, the walls, and the ceiling like they have a life of their own. ]
no subject
[But her voice trembles now. Though she turns to Jonathan with an outstretched hand she flinches when there's a shift.
Her eyes don't focus on it, not quite yet. She can't think about it too hard, you see. It was the whole kingdom. Hundreds and thousands of people buried in briars. After a hundred years, only one clawed and bled her way out.
But she has Jonathan, and she does have her friends, even if they're clearly acting weird. The mounting panic means nothing. She doesn't see the green tendrils snaking in around her. She doesn't.]
If I choose to be happy, all I have to do is fall asleep, and let him wake me up. I don't have to choose anything.
Right?
[She turns to her true love with a smile that twitches at the end.]
If I choose to give it up, then I could end up alone and miserable. Just like real people do.
no subject
It's all right, Yuri. You've been really strong today. I'll take this.
[ a gentle pet to the back of her head. he steps forward, encroaching upon rosamund and her doting betrothed. ]
Jonathan is dead, Rosie. You lived, but not because a prince came and saved you. I don't know if it was a curse or the fairies or what, but you didn't get this party.
[ he will lift a godsdamn hand if that figment of a dead prince tries to interrupt him ]
You're alive and it's time to stop playing with ghosts or you're gonna hurt your real, breathing friends.
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...
Jonathan doesn't even get to interrupt, not that he would, since he's confused as he listens. Instead, he calls for assistance and takes out his sword. Unfortunately, so many of the people are taken and turned into remnants. Gritted teeth, concern and worry swathed over his features, he turns to Rosamund. He will protect you, Rosamund—no, they can protect Reverie together.
It's a sweet dream, but the truth. As Nodd says, as it echoes, Jonathan does not live.
The briars take him, lifting him up by the wrist and ankles. They take his sword, too. He struggles in their hold, resisting valiantly like a prince should, but the blade rises.
... Will they be letting him die? ]
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No!
[It's that anyone had to be hurt at all.
Rosamund runs after a man she's met once, whose fate she doesn't know. She'd left him cradled in the briars that day, after rejecting the fairies' offer. She could have returned to her happy story, lent them her aid and set everyone back on the paths they've always been, Once Upon a Time after time after time.
Instead she traded it for something that wasn't exactly better. Just more fair.
She tries to climb the briars. Her hands slick with blood at once. She remembers the blaster suddenly, fumbling for it at her waist and shooting at the thorns carrying him away.]
He doesn't deserve this either! He deserves a better story! He shouldn't have to die just to be in mine!
no subject
[ he's so close to catching her sleeve, but she eludes him, racing after the man that should have saved her or been saved by her. there's a sense of ownership to their diverging destinies he can't place. the briar moves swift and brutal, intent on tearing jonathan apart and probably rosie in the process. ]
Shit.
[ he runs after her and grabs rosamund's arm, narrowly avoiding a shot to the stomach. a new hug, tight. nodd is very much the opposite of a prince, but we don't actually all get what we deserve whoops. ]
Kid, please. He doesn't, but he did. You're alive and you gotta let it be. So the three--
[ .....where are you amaltheamichellesomeone..... ]
--four of us can go back.
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There's no reason to be discreet now, so she is careful to shoot the briars around Jonathan even if it may be a foregone conclusion. That said, she does a good job at trying to protect herself from them, but she only has one gun that she doesn't have full mastery in and that she's only one person who is trying to do multiple things at the same time, which is also trying to cover for Rosanund and Nodd. Which is why her side gets impaled with a briar and she gets some cuts to her face by thorns by a narrow dodge.
But she keeps trucking on, shooting the briars that attack her. She's not here to die. ]
Your guns! Please use them!
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Rosamund knows already... This is the truth. She knows that he has to die. The fairies are there and they watch her. They encourage her to save him—this is her story. He is made for her story, not his own.
Nodd takes hold of Rosamund, which gives the briars time to impale him onto his own sword. In short seconds, the life in him drains... They recreate that scene that she remembers so clearly, cradled on the brink of death.
Yuri!! Starts blasting! And she does well to keep them at bay despite her injuries, but she can only keep shooting for so long. The blasters have limited ammo, despite running on energy.
It's then when they hear a voice, a familiar one from earlier. It's Amalthea's. ]
Wake up!
[ And like that the briars disappear and as they do, Rosamund, Nodd, and Yuri watch the prince take his last breath. Happily ever after—gone. They're now in an empty garden full of dirt and weeds, no signs of life. Not even a sound, but someone is very loud.
Oh, no no no no no. Look at you guys... All bloody.
[ She's fetching the first aid kit immediately.
The manor is disappearing... And it looks like they're back on the ship they were in earlier.
Congratulations on mission clear!!! Feel free to keep tagging just to like check up on each other, etc. ]
no subject
And then...oh god no.]
Yuri!
[Rosamund rushes, her own panic forgotten for the moment as she kneels to help her friend.
Swirling in their minds, they may remember the true version of this memory. A deal struck with a person not once seen within, and the acceptance of her fate thereafter.]
no subject
but, thankfully, rosie broke free of the farce.
he hurries to yuri. his own aches from reliving an old beating are truly faded. rosamund's door cured him well enough to fit the setting of a party and then he was merely scratched by the thorns.
We should get her back and to the medbay.
[ assuming her injuries are sticking around??? aahhh!!! ]
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Though she sees the true memory for Rosamund, she can't bring herself to comment on it right now. She just needs to focus on staying awake and alive. ]
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Okay, Yuri! Hang in there! Stay awake, okay?!
[ Amalthea will let Nodd and Rosamund help. Pressure! Pressure! Hold the pressure while she takes out what looks like an epipen (do not ask me the science) and gives Yuri a little shot near the injury. It should stabilize her until they get back to the Eudora. So off-schedule dying today. ]
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Or not, thanks to some fast acting and modern medicine, the blood is staved and the wound is cared for as best as it can be before they return. Rosamund brushes the hair from Yuri's forehead, resting her head in her lap as they make their return.]
I'm sorry, Yuri, I thought it was going to be something different. [More along the lines of Nodd's, a battle gone horrifically wrong. Foolish of her to think she could predict the manor's moves.] I fell for it and let you get hurt.