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

[pishirogane]

Very well.

[She would have to approach this with a little more tact... then again, the point wasn't to find out more about Futaba. Instead, it was to get her out. What memories would help at this time?]

This is going to be a café, correct? Would you happen to know what might pair well with the coffee?

[promiselisting]

[ A better call, definitely. Futaba's first instinct is to light up. ]

Curry! Sojiro's got this curry that goes really well with-

[ But suddenly she falls silent, confused and unsettled, a hand snaking up to cover her mouth. Where... had that come from? The cafe wasn't even open yet, and yet she'd been talking like it had been. She hasn't even tried Sojiro's curry. He's offered but every time he tried, she'd- it smelled just like her mom's and she couldn't eat it. Just couldn't. ]

... dunno where that came from.

[pishirogane]

[Sojiro... she's going to keep that name in mind.]

It's fine. I was asking after all.

My roommate Amamiya-san tends to pair curry with coffee, but I can't recall the name of the brand.

[promiselisting]

[ Amamiya. That name definitely hits something else in her memory. Without even really thinking, she starts talking ]

Um... P-probably the house bl-

[ Okay what? She didn't... she didn't even know who this guy was (right?). And she didn't know that much about coffee (yet). She looks straight at Naoto, puffing up a bit defensively. And no small amount of anxiety. ]

How are you doing this?

[ And more importantly, what was she doing??? This was freaky weird, but not like the hallucinations. She knew where those were coming from. Sort of. ]

[pishirogane]

[Naoto looked at Futaba with a straight face like she hadn't done anything at all.]

There's nothing I'm really doing... However, it sounds like you remember something subconsciously which is good.

I need you to remember consciously, Futaba-san. We can't remain in the Dream Width for too long after all.

[promiselisting]

The... what?

[ Things of note: 1. That name sounds familiar, 2. She knows Futaba's name even though she's pretty sure she never gave it? And 3. There's a feeling of deja vu here. Something somehow about... remembering what's real... and what isn't... ]

Wh-what exactly am I supposed to be remembering?

[pishirogane]

Try not to think to hard on it and let it come back on its own.

[Because now that she's focused, trying to push the memory will only hinder.]

Leblanc Coffee. Makoto Niijima. Ren Amamiya. Do those sound familiar?

[promiselisting]

[ There's alarm bells going off hard in the back of her head, but nowadays they're lowkey going off all the time, so it's hard to know what to do about it. There's also the slightly annoyed part of her that wants to be contrary for contrariness' sake. Those names though...

Slowly she ends up pulling herself out of sight, back behind the counter. However, a second or two later she still speaks. ]

Leblanc's gonna be the name of this place. That's what Sojiro said. [ So duh, that one's familiar. ] I... I dunno the others, but...

[ they sound familiar. ]

[pishirogane]

[Naoto nodded. As expected, she was focused on now and what was immediate.]

... If I said 'Shadow'?

[She watches quietly, waiting.]

[promiselisting]

[ A part of her - the same part that hasn't been panicking over these half-remembered names and faces - stiffened. Honestly it was easier to deal with than the two completely different reactions. Here at least, she could just be suspicious.

There's a significant pause. She's got the strong feeling that Naoto isn't talking about the absence of light. ]

You mean the psychological concept?

[pishirogane]

Yes, something like that.

[Seemed to get the reaction she was hoping for... and she might as well push forward.]

Just like 'Persona'.

[promiselisting]

[ Kanji getting her out of her memory dream was more of a gradual, slow process, of building a bridge of trust then using it to remind her of reality. This is like throwing a bucket of cold water over her in comparison.

Effective, though.

Futaba jumps to her feet, whipping around and grabbing the counter to keep herself from falling and to steady herself against the mental whiplash. ]

What the hell, how do you know about that?!

[ The world rumbles around them, the world of the memory starting to fall apart and dissolve. ]

[pishirogane]

[Yes, that'll work. Naoto nods.]

Something that we all must discuss. Of course, that requires us leaving this memory behind.

Get ready; we have a small distance to cover getting back to the ship.

[promiselisting]

[ Oh boy does she want to argue about that, but it's hard to deny the world falling apart around them. ]

Ngh... fine.

[ She really really hates running. ]

Which way?

[pishirogane]

[Of course she would. Naoto would too in the same position.]

Towards the door before it's completely gone.

[promiselisting]

[ She nods, scrambling to get around the counter and head for the door. Halfway there she hesitates, glancing towards the stairwell. But it wasn't the real Sojiro, she knew that. Just a part of the memory, like a cognitive being in the Metaverse. No point trying to grab anything either for the same reason. Even if, just for a moment, she was home.

With a frustrated noise she sets off again, expecting Naoto to already be ahead of her. ]

[pishirogane]

[She is ahead, but she's not going too far. In fact, she waits for Futaba to catch up before walking on. Well, there's going to be a long talk... once everything's said and done in Dream Width.]

[promiselisting]

[ Oh absolutely.

That being said, even once back on board she'll still glance back, watching the last traces of Cafe LeBlanc and the streets of Yongen-Jaya disappear. All while trying to not look as pathetically homesick as she felt in this moment.

Not as hard as it could have been, because now that she's got a moment to breathe, there's a small headache bubbling behind her eyebrows. Not as bad as the one when the others had helped her, but then again she was a lot worse off by that point. She rubs her forehead, plopping down on the floor then and there. ]

Ugh... forgot how much that sucked.

[ The headache that came from breaking through a badly distorted cognition, that is. She'll never really forget how much being in that state sucked.

For all this though, the look she's giving Naoto is still sharp. You've got some questions to answer, friend. ]

[pishirogane]

Yes... Leaving is always unpleasant.

[After Kanji's memory she hadn't really intended on going into another one much less Futaba's, but it just... happened. Considering how they all ended up in the memories in the first place, maybe it shouldn't be surprising.]

[Still, now they're out, and Naoto looks at Futaba with similar blank expression before. Yes, she does have questions to answer.]

It would be ideal to have Kanji-kun, Amamiya-san, and Makoto-san for this discussion.

[promiselisting]

[ It's not a satisfying answer in the slightest. Honestly she's put in mind how Makoto refused to tell her anything about the next four months, save the vague assurance that it all turned out okay. But it isn't a refusal. Just... that they need to wait. And she's not wrong about the others needing to be here, and Futaba knows it.

Still... ]

One thing. [ One thing that can't hold off, at least. ] How much do you know about us... and for how long?

[ Did they mess up? Did she mess up? She needs to know how badly they've been compromised so she can tell the others as soon as possible. ]

[pishirogane]

Hm... [Placing her hand on her chin...]

... After I spoke with Makoto-san the first time shortly on arrival. Being from the same world, knowing she remembered the case in Yasoinaba, and how there were some issues that came up where the three of you live, I had my suspicions.

Of course, then Kanji-kun let it slip to Makoto-san, Makoto-san expressed concerns about Amamiya-san being my roommate, and since you have a connection to the two... I wasn't entirely certain until now. There were too many parallels.

[promiselisting]

[ Parallels? Let slip? Not to mention Makoto was not the one to accidentally say things that would give them away... unless.

She's always been a fast thinker. Exceptionally so. The reason that Naoto had been able to pick up so much from what Makoto had said was that it was familiar to them which meant- ]

You're Persona users too!

[ Did Makoto know? Had she figured it out too? Man they were gonna need to talk about this holy shit. The name Yasoinaba is also getting some gears to turn in her mind. She knows she read that name somewhere- wait ]

So there was something to that whole Midnight Channel thing?

[ It was one of the things she'd read about when searching for evidence of the cognitive world online. Just rumors and conspiracy theories. She'd ultimately dismissed them because they mostly stopped after 2012 and had seemed irrelevant. Ugh part of her is so annoyed to figure out she hadn't entirely been barking up the wrong tree.

Even in the midst of all this though, her brain jumps back to something that Naoto had said, that strikes her as odd. ]

Wait, why would Makoto worried about Ren staying with you guys?

[ True, Makoto was one of the people most concerned with making sure they didn't stand out but... still. Ren had been living with Sojiro for most of the year before Sojiro found out. Even after Futaba herself had gotten involved. And even that finding out... had been her blunder, not his. ]

[pishirogane]

[A nod... and then, another nod.]

That's right. Similar to you, we were a rather odd bunch dealing with the Midnight Channel. And given the Asterisks you've chosen, I assume you're used to the supporting role with your Persona.

[There was much, much more Futaba, you don't even know right now...]

I'm not sure. Something about myself being female around Amamiya-san troubled her.

[promiselisting]

[ Ah jeez. Makoto. She flaps a hand dismissively. ]

Don't worry about it. Ren's gotten into more trouble helping girls who've been harassed by guys than anything. Also I've literally fallen asleep in his room before and nothing's happened.

[ Although honestly, that speaks as much to how safe she feels around him as it does Ren's understanding of boundaries (and the fact that they view each other as siblings practically). Given her anxiety levels which... Naoto has some impression of how bad those have gotten before, that's no mean feat. But really... his criminal record, nearly getting expelled for confronting Kamoshida... Makoto was probably just worried about standing out or people talking. She really hoped at least.

Back to the topic at hand though... ]

You got me, though. After I joined I always did more navigation stuff, keeping track of enemies, stuff like that.

[ She had to say it was really nice to have someone who was able to keep up with her. ]

[pishirogane]

I figured not. However, whatever she said to Kanji-kun had him concerned.

[And Futaba might've noticed by now, but that tall boy could be rather protective. Still, the relationship between the groups - while similar - are still likely different. Naoto would still monitor Ren.]

[She nodded at the acknowledgement.]

Every group seems to have one non-combatant, but that's for the best. It wouldn't be ideal to run through any dungeon blind especially since they could change upon each visit.