MEMORY SHARE: 12 OF BEETROOT EVENT (May)

[voidmissions]

JEMA'GRETHY MEMORY SHARE

The caves of Jema'grethy will allow for a few different ways for memories to be interacted with. But for most, such as those entering in bonds, it will be seen like a vision in their head, putting them in the position and perspective of whose memory it is.

For people sharing bond memories, and also memories being shared while moving through the Memory Cave, this is the spot to place said memories! It's not necessary if you'd like to write it during the thread, but hopefully convenient for others. Just make a toplevel with your character's name in the header, and remember to include any content warnings thereafter for each memory, as applicable!

Comments

Little One/Buttercup

[knifewithnoname]

48 Hours~ Xie'er

[knifewithnoname]

You are sat in a dark room. It isn't quite pitch black, there's light coming from somewhere up high, a tiny slit window perhaps. But your eyes are pretty good at seeing in the dark anyways. The room isn't big, it's cool but not cold and made of dark stone.

You are sat on a thin sleeping mat, there's a second pushed up against it but you aren't looking at that. You are absolutely not looking at that side of the room at all. It's almost a visceral fear though the room is silent, you are alone.

You feel hollow, sick, your hands are trembling and your limbs feel weak. You stare into the darkness, not moving.

There is a sound at the door, it creaks open, a heavy thing.

"Here." It's a male voice, a young man and he doesn't sound angry, indeed he sounds awkward, almost gentle. But still you cringe into yourself, teeth gritting together. "Eat it, you did well."

No. You don't want to hear that. You want to scream and never stop screaming. But instead you take a breath, imagine a storm inside of you and fling those emotions, all your emotions inside it. A calm comes over you. Calmer than calm, every sense is ready, every sound is sharp, you can feel the cool air on your skin, smell the distant smells of sweetness, cooking, dust and sewage.

But the feelings are safely behind a bubble. They can't touch you now. You hold it until the door closes again, the man leaves. Then you let it go. You are too exhausted to keep it up.

You stand up, move cautiously towards the door and peer at what Taiwin left you. Rage bubbles in your throat as you look down at the plate and the solitary honey cake. Honey cake, the best food in the whole world. Always a treat, often a reward. How dare he.

You do scream now, rage exploding from you as you bring your foot down on the plate, smushing the honey cake beneath your heal. You don't stop, kicking it off the plate and mashing it into the floor with your foot, until your foot hurts from hitting the stone and you are exhausted from stamping.

Positive~ For Xie'er

[knifewithnoname]

You are stood on a dock. Ships are anchored out to sea and the docks are bustling with activity, fishermen, people selling wares, sailors milling around, shouting, swearing.

It's a mass of activity and you stand avoiding the legs of those around you. You don't come past the waist of anyone who bustles around you. Your hand is clasped around another hand. A hand belonging to a little girl. A little girl identical to you in every single way, dressed in a simple faded green tunic, barefoot, waiting just like you.

You look ahead to the end of the docks. You can't see past the crowd, you are restless and being in the middle of the crowd isn't good. You look around and then grin. "Look." You whisper and direct the other girls attention to a nearby stall. Crabs, crab legs, some cooking, some ready to buy.

You exchange a grin and work without talking. She quickly causes a distraction and you move in, nabbing two claws. They are hot but you don't drop your prize, scrambling through the crowd as the shop keeper kicks up a fuss.

You are too fast and too slippery to be caught and no one gives too much of a chase. You run far enough that it is sand beneath the dock and scramble down, swinging below. The other girl isn't far behind, scrambling through the beams moments later. You grin and give her one of the claws and you both work on prising the meat from the shell.

Neither of you talk, but you know she is happy and that makes you happy too. Footsteps. You both still and glance upwards. A moment later boots appear over the side and a man drops down. He is large, a fighter even by looking at him. He's wearing a leather jerkin and heavy boots even in the heat of the day.

You know him, the stone faced man and you aren't sure if you are in trouble. He had said to wait and obedience was important. However he just gives you both a soft, almost sad look.

"So it was you two making the commotion." He ducked down under the pier to join you. "What's the prize?"

You hold out the crab claw, almost demolished now and he shakes his head. "I see. So I suppose you are too full for lunch?" He reaches into his bag, unwrapping a fish, fried and golden with honey.

"We do be being sorry." You speak first. You often speak first. You are more confident than her though in many ways she is braver. "We do be having more room."

He chuckled. "I bet you do." He placed the fish on a flat rock and the two of you fall on it eagerly, though after a moment he does bat your hands away so he can take some himself. After a little bit of eating he sits back.

"I didn't bring you here to rob unsuspecting crab sellers." He looked at them both. "But you pulled that off well. You've gotten fast, little one."

"You did be saying." You tell him. "That we will never be being as big so we do be needing to be being fast."

"So you do listen." He didn't smile, but his eyes looked pleased and you feel a rush of pride, you cover it by eating more fish. It's almost gone now, sadly. It was some of the best fish you had ever had. You wonder if he bought it with coin, or if he had nabbed it.

He clears up the paper wrapping and gestures for you both to follow. You wonder again why you are here. Not that you mind a day out of the inn, anything is better than scrubbing dishes. But it's strange.

Maybe it is to teach you to swim? But you don't go near the water, instead you walk along the beach. Sometimes he challenges you to run, to race each other and at another he challenged you both to dig a hole deeper than he could.

The day is pleasant and soon you forget about trying to figure out the why. He doesn't speak much, except to set the challenges but you don't speak much either. Neither of you.

The tide moves out and returns in as the day gets later. Eventually he looks up at the sky and the sea. "Come on."

You both follow, sticking closely to him as he leads back up to the pier. You walk through the crowds until you get to where one ship is being loaded. The man stops, looking on and then down at you. His face is very complicated.

"Ready Kant?" A woman, wearing a very fancy coat, walks down the gangplank. Kant says nothing. You exchange a look with your sister, confused. Kant puts a hand on your shoulder, and another on your sister's shoulder.

"Have a good journey captain." He turned, leading you away, down the dock, through the crowd and towards the city itself. Strange. But your confused mood only lasted a moment before you put it out of your mind, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine and the company of your sister and the stone faced man.

Negative~ For Xie'er (cw: torture, murder, broken bones, violence towards and done by children)

[knifewithnoname]

The scene is a dark, alley, barely lit by the light of the moon. It's a dead end, only one way in and out and a little girl is crouched in the shadows, keeping watch. She is no more than seven but she seems comfortable in the shadows. Wary and watchful but not frightened. It is not however this little girl who the memory is about.

The memory focuses further in where there is an identical little girl and a young man, still a teenager. They aren't alone. There's a man on the ground, pinned by the teenager. The little girl is crouched in the dust, a knife held to the victims throat.

"You do be telling us, and this can all be ending." The teenager spoke, very calmly. The man glared at him, tried to struggle, futilely.

"You hearts will be being shrivelling to shadow and your tears will be being turning to blood." The man hissed back. The teenager gestured at the girl and she leaned in, baring her teeth.

"Be holding that steady." He told her. "She do be wanting him alive." He sneered at the man. "Last chance."

The man spat on the floor. The teenager twisted his hands, resulting in a crack and a scream. The child held the knife steady. The teen tutted. "No be being any use screaming, who would be being foolish enough to be investigating?"

The man struggled again and the teenager slammed him against the wall. His foot came down on the mans leg.

Another sound, a voice? Muffled? The a whistle from the entrance, the other girl. "Be moving." She hissed.

The teenager, Taiwin, grabbed the man again, pulling him up but the man got an arm free and reached out to grab the girl. There's a flurry of movement and then a curse from the teen as blood spills into the dust.

The girl is holding the knife, now bloody, as the clutches at his neck, blood spilling between his fingers. Taiwin lashes out, clipping the girl across her head. "Idiot." He snatched the knife out of her hand.

"Be going back brat. You can be telling Junie what you did be doing. I do be needing to be cleaning up your mess."

The girl staggered backwards, dazed by the blow. For a moment it looked like Taiwin would lash out again but she scrambled away, down the alley and past the other girl who gave her a hard look. She stuck to the shadows and vanished down the street.

Memory Cave

[knifewithnoname]

Thomas Price

[thepriceforalife]

 

Recent -- for Zetta

[thepriceforalife]

You are standing in the council chamber you reshaped from the rock. Lanterns illuminate the windowless room. Maps of the territory your people have claimed — the ruins you have made marginally habitable and the surrounding village and fields — and what you know of the neighboring areas surround you. Your advisers are gathered around the table: men form a number of intelligent humanoid species and Sally, the only other person from Earth (and who had had to fight to be here; too often others assumed she was only present as a female of your species, rather than because she has become your aide). Another attack from the O’Vera, who insist on testing your magical defenses, even though between those and your people, they have yet to find a weakness. More concerns about marginal fields.

You float the idea of drawing in the magical defenses; you hope another new arrival will show up with enough pneuma to power them at their current levels, but no one has yet. This is not popular, but better to get the people coming to terms with it. New arrivals have always been sporadic, but this has been a dry spell. In more ways than one; another well has failed. People are going to start dying (in greater numbers than normal) if you can’t do something. Many of your advisors grew up with tales of the great and terrible immortal sorcerer who ruled these lands as Autarch. Even if you have stopped your own aging, you feel old and like you are slowly losing ground against the entropy of this dying world.

The goal, of courses would be to leave this place, but you’ve yet to find any way to crack the seal enough even to get a single person out, let alone the hundreds you are directly responsible for, the thousands that might be living here. You think you could brute-force it, but the amount of force isn’t something you have available to you. But at this point, a clever solution might not be possible.

Positive -- for Zetta

[thepriceforalife]

You are sitting in front of a table outside, near a beach that is at least partially reminiscent of the one on the island. The surroundings are lit by a campfire, with the smell of salt, woodsmoke and cooked fish. You are in front of a chess board, facing a man who looks to be of Pacific Islander heritage. Several boys — the man’s sons — are off to the side, nearer the fire, holding fishing nets and talking and laughing.

After you lose the chess game, the man laughs and asks if you want to meet his wife. Rather than take you into the house, you and he walk to a dock and he jumps into the water. He returns shortly, shifting from an underwater shape far more sharklike to the human-like form you played chess with as they approach. He swims easily next to a pale shark several times his length. He introduces you to his wife, and his gestures are of a man who doesn’t often get to talk about her with people outside of their community. You know enough of actual sharks to recognize that the man’s wife is clearly of human-level intelligence and can understand everything you say, even if she can’t speak to you. The family are ukupani, not humans, after all. The sexual dimorphism and shapeshifting is normal for them, even if it is strange to you.

You think of the report waiting for you back on the ship that carried you to Hawaii. You’re supposed to send off a report assessing Hawaii for creatures that would pose a threat to humanity’s dominion over the Earth. The man and his community mostly want to catch fish and be good neighbors, but your superiors will see their existence as an existential threat to humanity. You resolve that nothing you have seen tonight will leave your head, or your private field notes. Your report will say that Hawaii is utterly devoid of dangerous creatures, beyond the ‘natural’ sharks that your superiors consider acceptable.

Negative -- for Zetta

[thepriceforalife]

It is a hot and humid summer night, and Thomas, in a nightshirt and boxer shorts, is lying next to a very pregnant blonde woman in bed, snoring beside him. He sits up, the woman stirs and he strokes her hair until she settles back into sleep. He gets out of bed careful to not disturb the woman, and grabs his eyeglasses and walks down the hall, checking in another bedroom where a three year old boy is asleep. He heads down he creaky stairs, and there is the ghost of a teenaged girl with white hair and striking eyes, dressed in what would be fashionable for the 1960s waiting for him.

Thomas’s mood immediately goes from drowsy to wakeful and full of dread. His first words are “Please,” and when the ghost shakes her head, adds “at least, not here?”

The ghost notes that she had convinced ‘them’ not to take him from bed and to wait until he headed downstairs, but mostly because they didn’t want any chance that Alice would force her way through after him. Thomas does ask to at least get to the kitchen because a half-finished cup of tea would hurt Alice when she sees it in the morning, and his body language is clear that he hates bargaining for time using his wife’s suffering even as he knows that it is the only currency ‘they’ will accept.

The ghost sighs — it’s clear that she’s the intermediary for them, and she’s not happy about this duty — and says that they will accept it, but that he won’t finish the tea. Thomas bowed and thanked the ghost, grabs his wallet from the bookshelf by the door, and heads to the kitchen. He puts the kettle on, fixes a cup of tea while the ghost waits, and drinks some.

There is the sound of tinfoil ripping, and a tear in space opens up, showing a long, blue-tinted tunnel, pulling Thomas inside, with his wallet, but not the cup of tea.

Roxas

[terribletwos]

48 Hours Memory

[terribletwos]

Until just before Sora disappears

Positive Memory

[terribletwos]

Until end of Sea Salt Trio hug

Negative Memory

[terribletwos]

Until Roxas disappears

Xie'er/Scorpion King

[scorpionsect]

Negative Memory for ButterCup

[scorpionsect]

You sit down next to a young woman who appears to be partially dressed as a man. Her disguise partially removed from having paraded around as another person. You listen intentially as the other woman quietly explains what she had just learned from Yufi. Your eyes widen and you frown. She quietly explains how Yufi admitted that he was going to kill Xie'er for having used the Drug Men he should have destryed long ago and disobeyed him. She goes on explaining how the other needed to appease the sect leader in order for him to cooperate in his big scheme.
Eventually you tone her out and just dwell on the fact that Yufi wants to kill you. You've acted out before and only been punished or scolded. This news was shocking and hurtful. You begin to admit that maybe Luo Funmeng was right all along. You were merely just a pawn to be used and dispoosed. The glazed armor hanging around your neck was just a trick to win you over and make you feel important.
Eventually you dismiss the young woman and go to walk off and dwell on the news.

K'zeka Tia

[catti]

Bonding memories for Emporio

[catti]

Elidibus

[wewillwewill]

Memory Threads

Taiki

[longforgottenpromise]

Apologise ~ For Wash (cw: mob violence)

[longforgottenpromise]

There is a classroom full of students, older high school students and the air is ugly. Some students have bruises, some cower by the wall, others are urging a man, a teacher if a very young one, through the crowd.

"Stop them!"

The man frowned. "Takasato!" He called.

There was a teenager in front of a wall of students, who were tugging and pushing him.

"Hey stop it!" The man tried to get through but the closest students turned on him, hitting out with fists and kicking him once he was down.

Takasato was shoved again "You killed him, didn't you?"

"It was you, wasn't it?"

"What the fuck are you, Takasato? Are you really human?"

The boy is driven nearer to the window, despite the shoves and the blows he doesn't raise his own fists, doesn't fight back.

The man is still fighting to get to him. "You guys stop it!" He is rewarded by another kick.

"Are you friends with this monster? There's no use helping him. Iwaki's already dead." one student yelled.

"Apologise" Someone pushed Takasato to his knees, another grabbed the collar of his uniform.

"Apologise to Iwaki! It's all because of you that we're all involved!"

"Kneel down and swear that nothing like this'll ever happen again!"

Someone tried to push Takasato over and forcefully make him bow down. Someone else took hold of his hair, wanting to push his head down.

Until this point Takasato hadn't resisted at all, letting them hit him and speaking not a word. But as they tried to press his head to the floor he twisted and yelled. "No." He batted the hand away, pulling himself away from the hands that were restraining him and backing away from them. He looked deeply shaken.

"Why not? You mean you're not gonna apologise?"

"You killed someone! Don't you feel anything?"

Takasato's eyes widened. The blood drained from his face, but he cried out. "Don't push me! I can't!"

The boys around him sneered, yelling at him, more blows rained down on him and once again he didn't fight, staggering with the blows and never lifting a hand in retaliation.

"Stop." The student teacher was still trying to get to him, but he was injured too and could barely stagger to his feet.

The boys had pressed Takasato up against the open window now, the room was filled with jeers and anger and the teaching pleading for them to stop. It was too late though, as they bundled Takasato up and out, watching him plummet to the concrete below.

Koumyou Sanzo

[its_dad_sanzo]

[ Koumyou's memories are from his POV, complete with his thoughts. ]

Recent (CW blood, gore, more angst than you can shake a severed arm at)

[its_dad_sanzo]

I had gone out onto the narrow deck around the temple's main building, drawn out by all the noise. The center of the confusion is easy to see from here -- a young Kouryuu is standing in the rain, locking eyes with a huge bear up on her hind legs. Staring, and speaking. After my boy finishes speaking, the bear drops to all fours, and just... turns and walks away.

Tenkai Sanzo turns to me, not long after we'd begun wearing our new uniforms, and our new charges. The little youkai has his brow furrowed Ah, I think, we must have brushed hands when I handed him his tea.

"Yes, Gen-- Tenkai?" The names are still throwing me off a little. It doesn't help that Genkai and Toudai's new names had just swapped the first letter. Tenkai and Goudai. Right. I have no idea why Jikaku and his eyebrows chose 'Koumyou' for me. All three of us could have traded a letter! I could be Toumei, or Goumei.

I picture the kanji of my new name, 光明. Individually, they mean ray; light, and bright; light. Together as a name, it means 'glory; hope; bright future'.

Weird.

"Ho-san? Um, I mean Koumyou-san? Kou-san?" Tenkai's voice cuts in, and I realize I'd begun staring off into space while my thoughts run away from me.

He still looks concerned.

Skin contact, a background thought says, I wonder what he saw this time?

"More of that 'darkness and light' kaleidoscope you get from me, Tenkai? Or was it different this time?"

The little youkai's furrowed brow is joined by a frown. "Different. I-- I think I saw both of our deaths, Kou-san."

My eyebrows go up. This is the first time Tenkai's gotten any specific visions from touching me, usually it's a confused jumble of moments yet to come in my assuredly very strange life. Darkness, and light. Makes sense to me. Aren't we all darkness and light?

Tenkai nods, and continues, "When I die, you must take the Maten sutra. The night you see your son talk down a bear, you will know it's time."

Strange, I don't have a son? I'm only twenty four and not interested in any relationships, so...

I realize I've been staring after the bear, my hands gripping the railing hard enough I can feel the wood creaking. Behind me, a monk asks if something is wrong, and I let out a sigh as I carefully loosen my grip.

"Nothing... unexpected," is all I tell him.

I call for Kouryuu to come to my room, and meet him there. He's so young, too young for what has to happen next. My time is up, and he must now inherit the Maten, and... the Seiten, I suppose.

Fuck.

I hand him the scroll-form Maten, watching his little hands curl around it. This can't be right, right? Maybe it's another bear? When he's at least eighteen or nineteen, right? That was totally the wrong bear.

I just gaze at Kouryuu for a long moment, and he's so used to my thoughts wandering off that he just waits patiently for me to tell him what is going on. I haven't even opened my mouth yet when I feel it. The Muten is here, tugging at the back of my brain like a sucking void trying to pull me into it.

Just like its current bearer. That wasn't the wrong bear.

The door to the room slides open, and I turn to glimpse the youkai slipping in, weapons drawn. A stealth mission, then? Here for the sutras?

No. Ukoku is here, and everyone knows I can murder this many people without a thought.

This is cover. But he'd never kill me, he wants me. He wants me to travel the world with him, entertain him for the rest of our lives, but not only am I not interested, I have...

Kouryuu.

I have Kouryuu. He can't--

I feel the spell snapping through the air, passing through everything that isn't human without harming it, laser focused on--

He is. He's trying to--

It happens in an instant, the spell slicing bodies apart without a single word or gesture from the one casting it. Goudai's students fall in a spray of blood, and all Ken'yuu does is step past the bodies as they hit the ground, not paying them any mind. They could be bags of raked leaves.

Goudai steps forward, too. Then he charges the boy, and I already know how this will end.

It was... I will miss you, Goudai. Muichimotsu. Is this why you asked me to come? Are you giving me this brat to watch over?

Ken'yuu leaps right over the body as a crow cries out, as Goudai falls, the huge man's blood spraying into the air like a geyser. I already know that he's gone. At least it was fast. Unlike Tenkai. Or the rest of us.

The boy doesn't approach me. He just stands there, coated in Goudai's life, and I'm certain I can see tears cutting trails through the blood. Muichimotsu, muichimotsu. I have a duty to do. Hold nothing. Do not mourn. Let it go. Just let it go.

It's so hard to let it go, he was the last of us! And one of my only friends, the only one still alive!

I squash it. Muichimotsu. Enjoy what you have while it's here, then just let it go.

I step forward.

It's coming, that spell. I lock Kouryuu into place with one thread of chi. If I use the Seiten this spell will just cut right past it, like the walls and doors, like the youkai attackers who are just sort of... here. To distract me?

Everyone underestimates me, even my stalker.

Kouryuu's yelling at me, he can't move, undo this spell, let him go.

I can't. I have watched everyone I ever cared for die before me and done nothing. At first, because I couldn't do anything at all. Then, when I picked up muichimotsu and wrapped it around myself like a blanket... because I must let it go. Ryūzen, Jyoan, Gichou, Ganpuku, Soujin, Doutaku, Seiran, Shòun. A flash of each face in agony and blood. Tenkai, coated in it, reaching a hand toward me while I just stand there, while Goudai panics and yells his name and Tenkai just, locks eyes with me.

And I just stand there. Muichimotsu...

I can't! Not anymore, not when it's Kouryuu!

I'm in the way, and I stay there, opening my arms wide. No time for a barrier that could even have a slim hope to block this. No way to outrun it if I snatch my son up and run. It has to hit a human.

And I'm right here.

I drop every defense I have, opening just like my arms so that the spell will definitely hit me, and not just pass through me to my son.

I love him too much to let him die like this, cut apart. I'm not strong enough to be covered in his lifeblood. I doubt I would make it out of this room alive if I had to see that, feel that. I regret that it's about to be something he endures, instead. But if I'm out of time, then I can at least save him. It doesn't have to be both of our times.

A fraction of a second later, the spell hits me. It feels... memorable. I immediately latch onto myself with my chi, pouring life energy into keeping myself held together for one more moment. Two more moments. My lungs haven't given out yet, but they will. I have moments, at most.

Even as I speak, I know what to name Kouryuu. Genjo -- to actualize, to get shit done. A wish, a hope. My boy is so strong. So, so strong. He'll make it. He has to. He has to get shit done. I love him so much.

I'm so sorry I couldn't keep you safe.

My chi has run out, holding myself together taking more than anything ever has. The parts are slipping, grinding inside me. My guts are definitely-- I'm only upright because of my chi. Life energy. It's not like I'm going to need it anymore in a second.

My last words, "The rest is up to you, Genjo Sanzo."

My last thought, Live!

I feel the last of the chi run out of me like sand flowing to the bottom of an hourglass. My last sensations are of falling, blood gushing out of my many wounds, one arm falling clean off. The last sound I hear is Kouryuu screaming for me-- and my last feeling...

Is love.

Genjo Sanzo

[smithandwesson]

Sanzo's Memories. Memory Bond Is From His Point Of View With His Feelings. Memory Maze Is From An Outside Perspective Looking In.

Memory Bond With Koumyou Sanzo

[smithandwesson]

Emporio - Bonding Memories!

[seacub]

48 HOURS - End Stone Ocean Spoilers

[seacub]

The end of Stone Ocean, as summarized here.

The memory will begin with Emporio escaping prison alongside Jolyne and Ermes- notably, Emporio spends much of the time during Donatello Versus' fight outside of the hospital it takes place in. He is also knocked unconscious when Versus singles him out, and he does not wake up until Versus has died.

Worth noting is that what occurs in the late battle against Pucci will be confusing- it is a vast amount of time condensed into a matter of minutes, at best an hour.

Emporio's canon point is when the universal reset begins to 'revert' (It's more accurate to say that it starts anew, and unguided), so the memory ends with everything fading from seeming existence rather than continuing into the 'alternate universe'.

Kiyori Matsuda - Bonding Memories

[jan_ken_hacking]

48 HOURS

[jan_ken_hacking]

You wake to a room that was once pristine- the walls are constructed with cool metal, and at the side there is a glass chamber with the facilities for a washroom.

(It dims when used for anything- this much can be guessed.)

The room is simple, yes- but it has also been made one's own-

(It is nothing of great importance- perhaps some books are gathered from a desk before the Sphinx cub is fed, but otherwise there are more important things to be done.)

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner are held in a cafeteria full of various strange people- heroic spirits, the term is mentioned once or twice, and they all refer to you, and the others at your table, as 'Master', if not by name.

(The others at your table are all apparently your age. They have similar red marks on their hands. Through that mark you can feel it- the strength and hearts of all those spirits- like a dull roar, or a whisper, ready to become something louder with but a request.)

There are no windows in this place. There are many rooms, as unique as their inhabitants.

(It is all built with ice cold white, and the only exception seems to be two rooms- a room in blue that is visited only to greet a woman named Sion, and an entry bay where a great ship seems to be slowly constructed- the walls here are stone, and there is water beneath. It is as if the entire place was rock to begin with.)

School lessons are school lessons, but each one is taught by one of those spirits in their own scattered way. There is, near the end of the day, a moment for training. The others from the table are more active in combat- charging forward with their 'Servants', combating holographic creations. You, while close to the spirit at your side, are quiet, and focus on support.

It is a typical day, with friends, your father, and countless 'heroes'.

(How much remains of the 48 hours when you wake, depends- how much of any dream could be remembered?)

Seto Kaiba

[blue_ice]

last 48 hours

[blue_ice]

Your vision fills with light---first the familiar blue light of your technology, then a black emptiness between dimensions, and then. A burning sun and scorching desert sands. A promising sign, but who needs promise? You knew you'd land in the right place.

You hop out of your transit pod, absolutely not dressed for the occasion in all this black leather and wire, and stride across the desert sands. Your head is held high with purpose as though you're the king of this land, but no. You're just going to pay him a visit.

Villagers stare. Guards glare. This could get troublesome, but luckily, your resemblance to someone these people trust buys you enough time to reach the throne room. You make your grand entrance, dueling arm at the ready...and lock eyes with him.

Atem. The pharaoh you'd vaulted yourself across time and space and life and death for. He sits proudly on his throne, as if born for such a place...yet he rises to greet you. And his smile matches your own.

It's finally time to duel.

Devero

[subcircuits]

48 hours

[subcircuits]

The counter in the corner of your vision is ticking down to 0, but you're not really paying attention to it. You've done this so many times it's practically habit, this little game that you and the Boss play with the neoteks. You used to get a real kick out of this, didn't you?

You're not feeling it today. You're hardly paying attention to what you're doing as you step into your assigned maintenance bay and the machine in front of you reaches out to connect. You're really just going through the motions as you flick a hand, accepting the link, and then flick it again as you access Babysitter's UI through your tac visor. Your attention remains on the note you've just received.

The front of the bipedal machine hanging in its cradle folds open and without looking you reach up, grabbing this handle, putting your foot there, twisting neatly around to settle back into the pilot's rig, rereading the words the whole time. You grab the control joysts but it's the barest flicker of neural intention that has the cockpit close up around you, the exo's HUD loading up around you as the feed from your visor automatically flicks off. Only now do you dismiss the Administrator's message. You've got work to do.

You shrug yourself down from the cradle, biofeedback tactors making sure you feel it when your otherself's feet hit the floor. The thud is so familiar you don't even notice; your attention is now on the far end of the hangar. Babysitter's exterior cameras track, per the minute movements of your eyes seeing through its instruments, down to the wiry woman standing in front of the training rigs while a handful of prospective jockey recruits struggle through their first linkup.

Used to be, you'd be watching them as closely as she is, evaluating which of these kids has the chops to really inhabit one of these machines. Today, you just thud your way down the hangar, arriving right when the timer hits 0.

"--This is as far as I can take you," Chihyoon is saying as you step out of the gloom and into the spotlight. She jerks a thumb over her shoulder at you as you pull the trainer feeds from all the rigs into Babysitter's HUD. "It's his turn now," she informs the group, before stepping aside.

You know the part you're meant to play in this little act, but you can't seem to summon the enthusiasm for it. You don't even open your cockpit, instead just casting your interior cam view out to the trainer rigs. "I'm Devero," you tell them flatly. "and I hope you all have your shit together. Let's do this."

Your gestured command drops the trainers from their cradles, the jockeys inside getting their footing with various degrees of ease. Watching the monitoring feeds from their machines more than your cameras, you wait long enough to make sure none of them are going to fall, then you turn and lead your way to the bay doors.

They'll keep up, or they won't. You don't really care right now. You just want to get through your work quick as you can, so you can be ready to respond to the summons in the message you received.

You're going to see your Madame tonight.

jiang cheng

[fennu]

second memory - for madoka

[fennu]

For a long moment the only aspect of the memory is pacing; moving back and forward, Sandu in his hand, a frown on his face, people milling around him. Jiang Cheng is dressed in finery, Zidian on his hand, and around him are people in golden robes running to and fro.

Madoka has seen Lotus Pier and this clearly isn't Jiang Cheng's home - instead it's far more luxurious, finery everywhere, golden fabrics and silks hanging draped with peonies decorating the world around them. If anything Jiang Cheng seems frustrated alongside uncomfortable and the servants around him give him a wide birth, not wanting to summon the ire of the famed irritable Sect Leader from Yunmeng.

Eventually, someone comes out and tells him that he is permitted inside, that he is allowed in, and he follows them at a brisk pace, clearly beyond excited to get himself wherever he needs to go.

Let into a room, there is a woman laying in bed with a man standing beside her - and in the woman's arms is a bundle wrapped in equally fancy bedding and blankets. There's almost no words as the woman, her smile bright and warm, reaches over to hand the sleeping bundle to Jiang Cheng who - gingerly, placing his sword down and looking beyond awkward - takes the baby into his arms, adjusting them to make sure he doesn't drop his nephew.

There are mutterings around him, someone saying the name of the baby - Jin Ling, courtesy name Jin Rulan - but he doesn't seem to be paying attention. Instead all he feels is a sense of awe and wonder, his finger lifting to touch gently at the baby's cheek as he tries, almost desperately, to stop himself from bursting into tears.

It's not until his sister laughs and says his name, a-Cheng, that he sniffs and forces himself to be a little more steely, shaking his head and scoffing, complimenting how strong their little a-Ling seems.