Event || Once Upon A Dream

[eternitymods]

Who: All characters who signed-up!
When: May 31st - June 04th
Where: The Dream Width (+ Curti Center & Airships)
What: Event log for the Once Upon A Dream Event! Should your character have their own memory, start your own top-level with said memory. If not, then tag around in other characters's memories! Furthermore, feel free to use the Mingle threads at the Curti Center and in the Airships for non-memory related CR. Please refer to the OOC Post for details and plotting. Plot Memories and the second Airship Mingle will be unlocked on May 25th.
Warnings/Notes: Memories with specific warnings will be marked as such by their players.

Please use the following form for your memory's title line:
CHARACTER'S NAME | MEMORY TITLE | WARNINGS (IF ANY)
We will add links to your memories here as the event progresses!

Mingle: Curti Center | Airships #1 | Airships #2
Plot Memories: The Dream | The Nightmare | The Premonition
Holographic Messages

Adrien Agreste | Then and Now
Aqua | Thorny Pathway | cw: spoiler for kh 0.2
Castor | Lord of the Inferno | cw: fire, mind control
Ena | Zera Hamlet, Reprise | cw: mutilated corpses
Futaba Sakura | Early Days | cw: references to verbal abuse/neglect and auditory hallucinations
Ignis Scientia | For The Life of the Chosen | cw: spoilers, violence, death
Irhya Pendhula | The Parting Glass | cw: violence, amputation
Johnny D'Amico | United Earth Prisoner
Kanji Tatsumi | You're a BOY, you know! | cw: bullying, mild homophobia
Lelouch vi Britannia | Julius Kingsley
Monika | Just Monika | cw: spoilers, possible horror, possible deletion
Nanamo Ul Namo | A Good Memory
Noctis Lucis Caelum | Light of the Crystal | cw: chapter 13 spoilers
Okuyasu Nijimura | Lending a Hand | cw: blood/injuries
Prompto Argentum | I'm not one of your experiments! | cw: episode prompto spoilers
Selphie | The Answer | cw: gore/death
Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane | The end of the beginning | cw: end of season 2 spoilers
Tidus | A Broken Dream | cw: death, bullying

Comments

[carnageandclass]

"You use a cane? Last I saw, you had a sword the size of yourself."

It sort of just tumbled out of her mouth before Camilla could stop herself and she shakes her head. "Never mind, but what exactly happened in there?"

[omnicrafter]

"What? I..."

For a second, Irhya's eyes go wide, as if appalled at the concept. She's never used a sword in her life, much less a sword that large... right?

But Camilla is quick to drop it, so she doesn't follow up. Instead, she continues as she drags her down the stairs from the banquet hall. "We'd suspected conspiracy among the Crystal Braves for a long time, but to think it had run this deeply..." A shake of her head, and then, "They planted the vial in a way they knew I wouldn't be able to resist picking up, and then had her poisoned. I watched her die right in front of me!"

Rounding a corner causes them to run into Thancred, who is quick to apprise them of his findings from a different angle. Not only has this plan been in motion for a fair number of moons now, but the Brass Blades have put every way out of Ul'dah under tight watch. Where they go will hardly matter if they cannot get out at all...

"Papashan once told me about the passages hidden in the walls of the palace. If I recall correctly, the fireplace in Nanamo's chambers conceals the entrance to a tunnel..."

A group comprised of Crystal Braves and Brass Blades appears from the stairwell to the strip below, making their way around the circular path. Yda steps forward.

"The rest of you go ahead. I'll handle this lot!"

Not one to allow her to stand alone in a crisis, Papalymo insists on joining her -- only to shoot a fire spell at the gate separating them, forcing it closed.

And thus does Irhya's gut begin to sink as the sound of boots against flooring rattles in the distance.

"Oh, gods... Not now, please..."

[carnageandclass]

Camilla was about to tell her to calm down but the scene was not having any of it. Two of the group have decided to split off to buy them time it seems and it feels like that there is no time to take a breath. But what Camilla managed to get out of this was that someone important was killed and this group Irhya is a part of was framed(?) for the deed.

"I know this looks bad but if we do not leave quickly, it will be a lot worse. If there is a way to leave, then let's take it."

It's hard to figure out how to snap her out of this dream and not have it go crazy or downhill. The only thing Camilla can do in the meantime until she sees an opening is to go with the flow so to say.

[omnicrafter]

Before ducking into the narrow opening the fireplace provides, Irhya grabs a lantern from Nanamo's bedside table and lights it, stepping into the shallow flow of water. It's convenient, at least; Y'shtola notes that the ancients clearly saw the need for a ready means of escape, and she is inclined to agree.

But it doesn't take long before both sets of Miqo'te ears perk, their attention drawn to the faint voices and footfalls on their trail, the sloshing of the same water at the feet of the Crystal Braves. Y'shtola and Thancred then see the same thing Yda and Papalymo had, yet unbeknownst to Irhya herself, and convince Minfilia to run ahead without them, much the same as before.

Irhya's lips thin. It isn't that she doesn't see the need for it as well. It isn't that she doesn't agree with the sentiment, but... the hope was for everyone to make it out alive. If it turns out that only the two of them get to escape, what will have been the point? All they do is smile at her and usher her along, and it's frankly infuriating, but she finally turns and starts moving again as fast as her feet will carry her.

"There are too many to simply fight off," she says to Camilla between breaths as they run, and to Minfilia by extension. "If they're just sacrificing themselves to keep us alive... I can't--"

Minfilia then stops as if physically stricken by something, at about the same moment a loud, thunderous crash is heard behind them. "Hydaelyn... she speaks to me!" Then, turning to the two of them, "I must remain behind... but you cannot stay with me."

"Have you lost your mind!?" Irhya snaps, looking like she's ready to fling the lantern into the woman's face for even entertaining the thought. She has no discernible weapon on her, either; it's not difficult to conclude she stands easily the slimmest chance against their pursuers in combat. "If they catch you, you'll be killed!"

"Please, you must go on! You are the Warriors of Light! You are hope -- for the Scions, and for all of the realm! As long as your flame continues to burn, the light of the dawn may ever be relit!"

It seems the sentiment is directed at Camilla as well, as though there had been two such individuals, but Irhya does not seem to question the oddity of this.

"'Tis the only way..." Minfilia finishes, taking off in the direction they came heedless of Irhya's protests.

She spends a moment in silence, then continues running, a bit slower and less enthused than before. "This wasn't about the Scions at all, then. This was about us," she concludes, her voice cracking at the end. "Even if none of them make it out alive from this, they'd still pin all their hopes onto the fact that at the very least, the two of us make it out alive. I... I'm not..."

[carnageandclass]

Camilla is fine at first watching the scene play because it's just constantly running and screaming and fighting and damn she could have taken those enemies down no problem. They were just fodder anyway so why couldn't she step in and make them lose a limb or two? Everything next just confused her: why were these people throwing themselves into something that would most definitely kill them? Do they believe being martyrs will save the world? Perhaps it's due to her own upbringing and how Nohr itself valued the strength of its people and anything less was considered weak.

But then she sees the once confident miqo'te doubting herself and it...hurts. She has no idea what the hell this Warriors of Light thing is but Irhya is hurt and worried.

"Take a deep breath." she starts. "You're much stronger than you look, Irhya. Besides, you would be the type to put your foot in their face if they were stupid enough to say it to you."

[omnicrafter]

Yeah, wouldn't that have been nice. It would have been a preferable alternative -- why, she ought to have been the one to put the knives at their throats herself, in that case! Irhya's jaw clenches.

"And evidently the type to fall right into other people's traps at the expense of those around me," she says as they emerge into moonlight at last, surrounded by arid desert on all sides. "I can't do anything like this... it just isn't enough!"

There is a hill before them that they need to scale, but she does not approach it just yet, standing still as she catches her breath. The pursuit seems to have ceased, most likely thanks to Y'shtola and Thancred. But those sounds... did they collapse the tunnel? But isn't that suicidal? She drags a hand over her face and into her hair.

[carnageandclass]

Now she isn't the type to sound much like a intelligent person but she knows mistakes when she sees them. But she knows that from making them, you have to press on no matter what. Letting the enemy see you crack is a huge mistake and can cost someone their life. But she has to wonder...is this why she has that confidence from before? She never saw Iryha cowering or whimpering because some jerks decide to give her the upper hand up until now. So...was it?

"Then if you feel like it is far from it, then get stronger. Channel what you're feeling right now into a force not to be reckoned with. Make them see that you are a force of your own. If those people believe in you, then you need to have that as well."

[omnicrafter]

A beat. Irhya sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly, letting her hands drop to her sides despite the itch in her fingers. It's bad enough that Midgardsormr stripped her of her gift to begin with, but... perhaps that is precisely where he was coming from.

Well... nowhere to go but up. Literally, in this case.

"Mm. Sorry, I... I suppose I cannot argue that. Let's just keep going. If we can make it out of Thanalan, at least..."

At the top of the hill, footsteps meet them from the other direction, followed by the pattering of a few sets of chocobo feet against the sands. Alphinaud and Pipin meet them, along with a carriage poised for a convenient getaway. At Alisaie's behest, their rescuer explains -- it should figure that everyone seemed to see something was going amiss except the people who really needed to.

It is evident from the time that they board the carriage that Alphinaud is taking this equally as badly. His hood remains over his head, as if he is too ashamed to even show his face to her yet, and he says nothing, lips pressed into a hard, self-reproaching line. She grips the edge of the seat and slumps back as Pipin and the merchant ferrying them to (relative) safety discuss the circumstances that brought them here.

"I'm," she pronounces, "really stupid."

[carnageandclass]

The tension she can feel is so much that someone can cut through it with a butter knife. Everyone sitting in the wagon cannot help but ponder what to do next and she seems to be the odd one out who is looking straight ahead. And then she hears Irhya belittle herself again. This memory must be really hard for her to try and face isn't it?

Maybe that is why her first attempt at trying to get her to wake up fell flat.

"I wouldn't try and beat yourself up so much, darling. That situation is never good for anyone and you did what you thought was needed. I don't know all the details but when people start to lose limbs and throw accusations around quickly, there isn't much we can do in order to survive."

[omnicrafter]

"...Eh?"

Irhya's eyes snap up after a pause to let that percolate, right up until she catches the oddity of Camilla's words. For a few moments, her gaze darts around restlessly, as if re-assessing the situation. Alphinaud; Pipin; Bremondt... Camilla.

Camilla, who has just witnessed everything, even though... even though she is...

...What?

"Are you-- wait--"

One of her hands flies to her forehead as she's overcome by a sensation not unlike the Echo, but somehow entirely different. It's not a flashback of someone else's, no... more like a dam of her own making being broken down instead.

The desert itself starts to shimmer around them, as if engulfed by a mirage large enough to swallow them all. She squeezes her eyes shut; no one else seems to notice. Perhaps that is exactly what this is...

[carnageandclass]

Camilla takes the miqo'te by the shoulders gently, trying to keep her steady. She's not sure what is happening but the scene around them is shifting around.

"It's alright, you're just realizing what is happening now."

That she's only dreaming of this moment. Those faces from home are not with her...but Camilla is real and staying beside her.