EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

[abraxasmods]

Event #7 - The Sight

go to the OOC event info and plotting post

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The night before APRIL 18, your dreams are disrupted by a vivid image of the same eclipse that occurred last month. The black sun seems to be an endless void in the sky, growing ever darker - until it suddenly opens into an eye that stares straight at you.

When you wake up, much of your night seems a blur except for the vivid dream of that eye. Whether you find it unsettling or try to ignore it, the image is something you cannot get out of your mind. If you ask, you will discover that none of the locals of your faction saw another eclipse. Speak with your fellow Summoned, however, and you may learn that while there was no eclipse that formed over the world, you were not the only one who had this dream.

Of course, dreams don't need to mean anything. You can't feel or see any immediate effects, and nearly everyone around you is going about their day as usual. Maybe you should do the same.

The Awakening

It might happen that very morning or a day or two later. You could be discussing the dream with a fellow Summoned or perhaps you simply brush shoulders with them as you walk by. Whatever it is, as soon as you make brief physical contact, one of you is struck with a sharp pain in your temple that grows into a terrible headache. It's disorienting and painful as the world around you shifts to someplace you may or may not recognize. Like an old film reel, you watch the events of the past play out before you: the past of the other Summmoned. It might be something they would rather hide, a moment of failure or despair, or something they are immensely proud of and brings them great joy - or even a jumble of several images over the course of a person's life. But you see it as if it were real and right in front of you all the same. When you come to, you'll likely find yourself on the ground or bent over, possibly with one or more people around you to see if you're okay. It'll take you a bit to gather your bearings, and the subsequent pounding in your head could last from minutes to hours.

Or, maybe you aren't the one who receives the vision. Instead, as you watch, another Summoned might grasp their head and crumble in front of you. They may go silent or groan in pain. They'll be impossible to shake out of their stupor until it's over. If you ask what happened, they may be inclined to tell you the truth - that you, you were what happened to them.

Or, if your Arcana signs happen to line up in a specific way, you'll see each other in the shared memory itself. You may also find that for certain Summoned, you can help soothe the effects, calm their emotions, or help draw them out of the memory before it consumes them for too long. It's not entirely clear what determines which effect, but one thing is for certain - within each memory, every Summoned as they appear in the past seems to wear the mark of their Arcana somewhere on their person.

For some, they might experience this only once. For others, they might experience it multiple times: with the same person, with several other Summoned, or with a different memory each time. Over the next 7 days, you'll find the Summoned around you are all receiving a glimpse into each other's past, as if the Singularity has awoken an eye within each of you.

Flee for the safety of the Horizon if you want, but you'll find that in there, it's much the same. In fact, inside the Horizon, the other Summoned don't even need to be anywhere near you - just existing in the Horizon space itself together will be enough to possibly set off a headache-inducing vision.

The Factions

What has occurred between the Summoned will not go unnoticed within the factions. While it's difficult to say how faction officials have picked up what's happening, it'll be obvious they do know.

In THORNE, characters will be asked to remain in the castle walls until further notice. Characters will not be allowed to leave the castle grounds, not even to go into the surrounding city, and anyone who is already outside will be requested to not leave again as soon as they return. If asked, they will be told it's for their own safety, given the Singularity is behaving unpredictably and the Summoned have a unique connection to it. Soothing potions and healers are on hand to offer assistance, if anyone is particularly suffering from ill effects.

In the FREE CITIES, characters will find the army by the outposts show more activity than usual. A higher number of guards will patrol the streets throughout the event, particularly in areas frequented by the Summoned. Anyone who publicly and visibly experiences the effects of the memory share (pain, doubling over, etc.) will be offered assistance by the guards. They are generally there to help, but they are also there to maintain order and ensure anyone behaving erratically due to this incident is properly contained. This might include confinement for a day or two if anyone is especially posing a risk, but no one will be punished except in the most extreme cases, as the locals are aware this is not within the control of the Summoned.

In SOLVUNN, the locals will be watching what's happening with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity. Host families and neighbors will be on hand to help with charms meant to offer protection, as well as general care and assistance (soup, blankets, and so on) if your character seems to be especially under the weather or afflicted by the event. Towards the end of the event, more elders and mages will be out and about to check up on the Summoned to make sure they're doing okay. If asked, the mages will say they aren't sure what's going on, but that they are currently divining with the gods and hope to have a definitive answer soon in the upcoming days.

None of the factions appear to be doing much more than keep a watchful eye on the situation - but as the week comes to a close, officials will start making a decision as to what they want to do and how to handle the Summoned who have demonstrated this unforeseen connection to the Singularity.

Comments

[funbreaker]

[ She has children as well? Twins. Thancred's eyebrows raise at that; he's a tad surprised that this hadn't come up before now. They'd spoken of who they'd lost, siblings or sibling figures, but not this. Not Ryne, not her boys.

Perhaps because when it came to children, it was that much more personal. Something shared only with a person you trusted. Not that their memories are giving them much choice in the matter.

The scene that they're transported into is difficult to parse, though he imagines that Wanda felt the same way about what they just witnessed. Wanda stands at the center of it all, surrounded by people who appear to be recovering from something. Another woman with long dark hair speaks over the crowd.

What's stopping you? Heroes don't torture people.

Torture? Thancred looks around, at the unfamiliar buildings and the automobiles that he only knows from stints spent in Garlemald. Then, Wanda as she exists in the memory raises both hands overhead, sending swaths of bright red energy toward the sky, which begins to split open.

She'd spoken of using magick, but Thancred could truly not have imagined anything like this. While he cannot be entirely certain of what power is at play here, it seems on-par with the most learned of black mages, and mayhap even beyond that.

Don't think less of me, Wanda entreats him, and Thancred glances down to her, not entirely certain what to think. ] That would require me understanding what's happening here first. [ She's a friend of Himeka's. He's seen her kindness. He won't jump to conclusions. ] ... Though I suppose you did say it was a long story.

[carmesi]

[the story is much too long to try and summarize in this very moment. the world around them struggles to keep up with the way its magical extensions are being pulled apart at the seams. black and white shifts into technicolor, then back and again, recycling over the different eras she had layered upon this fantasy world of hers.

the wanda from the memory stands, working as the anchor that removes the scarlet magic from the hex, and for a moment—she falters.]

Wait. Wait—

[she looks at herself and follows her eyes, to the sight of a man with red skin, barely managing to pull himself up to his feet as particles remove themselves from his body. vision struggles, reaching out for her.]

Save Westview, or save your family.

[agatha says, watching from overhead, and both wanda turn to see tommy and billy, stopping in their tracks and falling to the ground, confused, looking at her with fear as particles pull away from them, too.]

Mom! Mooom!

[their cries for help are gut wrenching. they're in pain, and wanda stands in the middle, removing the magic that keeps them whole.]

You see, you tied your family to this twisted world and now one can't exist without the other.

[the pain her children are going through is too much to bear for wanda. vision is almost gone, her kids too; and, with this, she pulls the magic away from her, closes the rift that was opening to allow for blue skies, and everything is covered in scarlet again.

she is pulled up by vision, and as soon as her children are within reach, she holds them closely. a chorus of his follow, kissing their heads, are you okay?s unanswered. agatha throws a spell and wanda is smart to it, turning her back to shield her family with her magic, only for agatha's wicked magic to drain her of her power, her hands and arms drying up in the process.

the memory starts to fade, but it doesn't stop wanda—the real wanda—to step into the memory, where her boys stand, and look them over again, wanting to hold them in her arms.]

Tommy. [is what she says, as it all fades to black.] Billy.

[and then they're back inside her cabin, sat on the bench by the window she had chosen before they were thrown into their memories, nursing a migraine as expected from this phenomena. fingers curl into her hair as she presses hands to her temples.]

Than—? [the rest of his name dies out as she holds back on a particular sharp shot of pain through her temples, raising her head and standing up to walk over to him.] Are you alright?

[funbreaker]

[ It's a lot to take in. Too many details, perhaps, for Thancred to even process. The crowd of people begin to run away at Wanda's insistence. The entire world shifts in front of their eyes, details changing and then reverting back a moment later, as if reality itself is warping. A man(?) with red skin and and metal parts reaches out for Wanda as he begins to disintegrate. The woman with the dark hair continues to mock Wanda, even as two children suddenly appear, as if out of nowhere.

They, too, are vanishing into nothing.

Little of it makes sense without context, but Thancred knows those two boys are Wanda's sons, and likely would have known if even if she hadn't told him about them beforehand. It's all in how she looks at them, how a glimpse is all it takes for her to drop her magick and run over to check on them.

That doesn't stop the dark-haired woman from attacking her and her family, and Wanda just barely manages to shield them all. Yet the woman manages to siphon some of that red energy from her, until Wanda loses all color in her hands.

Wanda — the Wanda who is not simply a memory — steps up to the two boys. Says their names.

She's lost them too, hasn't she?

The memory finally fades, leaving them back in Wanda's cabin. Thancred's headache persists, if not as intensely, and he can feel a lurch of nausea. Soon enough Wanda is in his space, checking in on him, as if he's the only one who's been affected. He glances up, his head spinning even with the small movement. ]

I'm all right. We're fine. [ The moment is passed, which means that they should have some manner of reprieve now. Or so he hopes. He reaches a head up to rub at his forehead, letting out a small groan of pain. He's grown tired of all this. ] You should sit.

[carmesi]

[his words offer her some comfort, some grounding amidst all this disorientation, and wanda could do as advised and take a seat—stopping her ambling towards him altogether. it would be so much easier this way for her, too, as she nurses the pain that pulls at them because of their memories.

but wanda is stubborn in her own ways.

she continues towards him and grasps his hands in her own. she has learned, through experiencing all this, that physical contact can ease some of the pain they feel. circumstances like these remind her of pietro and how she would hold on to him whenever he bruised himself by exerting his own capabilities; it reminds her of the warmth of her family, of those who weren't shy to show their love with this kind of contact.

it's selfish, perhaps, but he had decided to visit despite knowing better about what had been happening.

(what does thancred think? what courses through his mind?)]

Your memory was much nicer.

[funbreaker]

[ Wanda doesn't listen to him, and Thancred can't help but smile through the weariness. She's headstrong in her own way and he suspects he's only seen the tip of that iceberg. Based on what he'd seen in that memory — even if he'd had very little context — he'd been able to see the steel in her eyes.

And the grief.

She reaches for his hands, grips them tight, and it somehow does seem to clear his head. It's a bit odd, with her standing and him sitting, but she also doesn't seem to want to let go. He releases a slow breath and tightens his fingers around her hands. ]

I got lucky. [ He doesn't outright say it, but there are many other memories they could have witnessed which would not have been nearly so pleasant. ] I must confess, I couldn't quite follow all that happened with yours.

[ He glances up then to look directly at her, his bangs shifting back toward his temples. ] But you don't have to explain. I suspect it showed it to us because your sons were there.

[ He's noticed a trend with these memories, how often they will mirror each other in some way. Ryne, Billy, and Tommy had been the common denominator here. ]

[carmesi]

[thancred doesn't chastise, doesn't ask for explanations, just— accepts it as something that happened, and with that manages to quells wanda's concerns about whether her actions would change his opinion of her. the world has taught her that because of who she is, there is reason to judge and politicize her every move—deemed dangerous, unstable—but she gets proven wrong again and again, as people come into her life with nothing but understanding.

he says he got lucky, but wanda feels that she is the fortunate one to find people like this despite everything.]

I wish you had seen something happier. [like what they saw with his daughter, bittersweet as it may have been.] Their names — are Tommy and Billy.

[wanda takes a seat, her hands still holding onto his, arms stretched in front of her.]

They could only exist within the walls of the hex I had created—within my magic. The man, he was their father. [a light shake of her head.] They are always on my mind. I wish they could be here.

[—like himeka is here? oh, her eyes raise to look at him.]

Himeka. I live with her in Gardsbruk Farm in Solvunn. I didn't realize she was from your world.

[funbreaker]

[ Tommy and Billy. Yes, she'd said their names before, in the midst of the memory, but Thancred nods along all the same. They are likely some of the most important parts of her life, and so it bears repeating.

Wanda sits, and attempts to explain. Her children and their father could only exist within the confines of her magick? He thinks back to how the town around her had changed around, how there had been some sort of magical ceiling and walls containing all of it. An entire town created by magick?

She mentions Himeka once more, and Thancred can't quite stop his smile in spite of all they just witnessed. Perhaps instead of trying to ask more questions about something that he can gather is quite painful, they should focus on this. ] She is a very good friend. We've worked together for some years. I met her when she was still a new adventurer, only just setting out.

[ She and Wanda live together, though? Solvunn is different, he imagines, with less in the way of comfortable lodgings offered by their "benefactors." ] And how did you meet and start living together?

[ Himeka's the friendly sort. It's entirely possible she'd welcomed Wanda into her space. ]

[carmesi]

[thancred is on the right track, allowing wanda's own grieving to remain where it needs to be: acknowledged, but dormant. to stir the cauldron further might just remove her from good intentions and have her consider what ifs, regrets, inconsolable futures with little within for her.

the present—that's easier. especially when it deals with someone she is intrinsically connected to; someone she considers a friend, more so than a friend, perhaps. a home to go to in this world.]

We met in the farm — as people do in Solvunn. I asked her if I could live with her. She's... lost some people, being here? And I, [well, she sighs lightly] I also didn't want to be alone.

[she smiles, a small upturning of her lips.]

An adventurer?

[her hands pull away just slightly from him, grateful for the allowance of the contact, but deeming now their headaches and nausea properly under control.]

[funbreaker]

[ There's more thought Thancred could put to what he's just seen and what Wanda told him. If there's anything he's experienced similar to what was described, it would be Amaurot, and that's far too much to unpack right now.

Easier to speak of Himeka.

When Wanda mentions her losing people, Thancred can assume that's in reference to Estinien. They'd like found a spot to share, and with him gone, it had been too quiet. ]

She is very good company. It would be near to impossible to feel alone around her.

[ Thancred nods, releasing Wanda's hands as she tugs back. The pounding in his head has cleared and the nausea is slowly fading. ]

Does it surprise you to hear her called that? She's accomplished far more by now, but her one true love is seeing new sights, exploring the world, and helping others along the way. [ He pauses and smiles to himself, as if hear Himeka's voice correcting him. ] — Oh, and food. Though I'm sure you've learned that much already.

[carmesi]

[she shakes her head slightly, the comment about food drawing a smile onto her face. it's easy to talk to thancred, easy enough that she can forget the painful memories they saw together. it is most likely reactionary, relief in the fact that he has not raised his voice, questioned her in contempt or fear.

ever since their first meeting, thancred continues to prove to her that— that it's alright.]

It is easy to forget when the most adventure we get in Solvunn is gathering the sheep and trying to avoid angry goats. [the bond she has with himeka is — hard to put into words. they share the same living space, the same bed, in the way sisters would; and that's what it feels like, like she's got something of a sister in her. fretting, smiling, laughing, teasing nero. this place has given her so much.] Was she the one you were thinking of when I told you about s'mores?

[(it's easy—it's easy.)]

—Ryne. Sorry, you look far too young to look like a parent with a kid her age. [she means this as a compliment!] You must miss her terribly.

[funbreaker]

[ With how Wanda speaks of Solvunn, Thancred is almost relieved that he's opted to stay in Thorne. Not that the stuffy castle is much better, but at least there's more to do than herding animals around. He'd likely lose his mind in a place like that.

It does mean that he can only see Himeka in the Horizon, but that's certainly better than nothing, and she has people like Wanda to keep her company.

At the question, Thancred quickly nods. ] The very same. I had no idea then that you knew each other. [ Who knows when it might have come up in conversation, had they not been shown that memory just now.

And then, back to Ryne. As much as Thancred might want to preen at the remark about his age (and he very literally does look younger than he is after his time on the First, but that's neither here nor there), his eyes cast down at Wanda's observation. ]

I already had to leave her, back home. We're from different worlds, and my days spent in hers were numbered. It was five years, long enough to take her under my wing and teach her what I knew, but...

[ He glances up again, wearing a smile that's sad yet sure. ] She's an accomplished young woman now. She'll be just fine without me.

[carmesi]

Different worlds?

[her brows knit, trying to grasp and understand just what kind of world himeka and her friends come from. it sounds magical, mystical in so many ways, modern in its use of magical spells, but swept behind in other areas of more obvious modernity.

are realms so easily visited between one and the other?

wanda sees herself in thancred's sad yet steadfast expression.]

You still miss her, no matter that you've accepted your time with her has come to an end.

[she swallows, breathes, and her shoulders slump.]

I had created a world with my magic so that I could hide from reality. Everything was — already real, but my boys. I didn't make them. They chose me as their mother, and all I did was give them the place to be born and grow in. [she catches her breath, this being the first time she's actually spoken about them. minute micro-expressions pull at her face; a smile, a frown, the flutter her eyelids as if uncertain of whether she should cry or not.] I had a few days with them. Even if I had had five years... I don't think it would have been enough time.

[quietly, as if afraid she would reveal something unkind from herself, she asks:]

Do you wish she would show up in a Summoning ritual?

[wanda does. she wishes her sons would be summoned; she wishes vision would be; she wishes her brother, her real brother, would be, too.]

[funbreaker]

[ Thancred nods, realizing that from one parent to another, Wanda understands. Even when children grow and leave the nest, so to speak, of course their parents would still miss them. Of course they would still want to stand back and watch as they continue to grow and flourish, or to simply spend time with them.

Yet it's something both of them have been denied, if for different reasons. As Thancred suspected, Wanda did somehow make that strange world with her magick. That means what she's capable of is on the same level as the Ancients, far beyond what any sundered person from Etheirys could do.

Granted, these sorts of things are never done for the right reasons. Just as Emet-Selch had created Amaurot as a way to wallow in his own misery, Wanda had made that place to hide. He still doesn't quite understand how Billy and Tommy came into existence, if he's honest, but she'd only had a few days? And then... ]

No, it likely wouldn't have been. [ He shuts his eyes for a few moments and shakes his head. ] Yet your time with them being so short is cruel.

[ Wanda's on the verge of tears, and given how much she's lost, Thancred can see why. At her question his face tightens, almost a wince, before he nods. ]

I've thought about it. How could I not? It might be our only chance to see each other again. It's selfish, I know, but...

[ He looks at Wanda straight in her glassy eyes. She wishes the same, doesn't she? ]

[carmesi]

[loss after loss has tempered her, over the years, but she has never learnt to actually keep her emotions in check—to disallow them from showing on her face, keep the tears from forming. she is capable, though, of pulling away from it if she focuses her mind to it. there's always a time and place, and there is something about how someone else who shares her pain—or one of a similar nature—can help her keep herself balanced, without succumbing to it all.

pietro had been like a rock to her, an anchor when her pain was too much to bear. though there will never be someone like him in her life ever again, the fact that thancred shares similar thoughts, a similar grief, it is enough.

she nods, understanding, swallowing down the sorrow that was creeping onto her.]

The very least we are allowed is to be selfish in our wishes. [wishes, because there is a high chance that they won't come true; the world doesn't work with wishing upon a star or blowing out birthday candles.] But...

[it might be our only chance to see each other again.]

Who is to say? It stands to reason you may meet again.

[vision's words, within the hex. she holds on to them tightly, especially when she's so far removed from reality, grasping onto the tail-ends of dreams she wishes she wouldn't wake up from.]

Himeka knew her too, I imagine. Did you all go on adventures together?

[funbreaker]

[ Wanda makes a good point. No one can judge them too harshly for thoughts that they have, small wishes that they make even though they know how unlikely it is that they'll come true. It is a natural thing that anyone who has thoughts and feelings is bound to indulge in.

There is a chance they'll meet again, even outside of Abraxas. Thancred nods, lets out a breath through his nose. ] We're trying to find a way that we can return safely to her world. It's a work in progress, but...

[ Maybe someday. Thancred doesn't know if they have enough time, especially when time flows differently between the Source and the First. He honestly tries not to think too hard on that, for his own sanity.

At Wanda's question, he smiles, his gaze becoming more distant as he thinks back on all the times they had together. He might not go so far as to call them adventures, but... ] Yes, we all traveled together for a time, mainly in order to find a way to save her world. Which we did, though it was not a fight easily won.

[ Himeka taking in all that light, to the point that it almost killed her. That final facedown with Emet-Selch. Hope triumphed in the end, and that's what matters.

Thancred seems to return to the present, shifting his gaze back to Wanda. ]

A story for another day, mayhap.

[carmesi]

[between all the summoned, there is a lifetime of stories and memories, refracted and consolidated, interrupted, due to their stay here. it is interesting that the one that they managed to pick on through this strange phenomena is one that is so parallel—of their lives as parents, short lived as it may have been, considering the span of their lives.

thancred still smiles, still levels eye contact with her.

she isn't a monster in his eyes—she isn't someone to be feared. perhaps those summoned are truly of the heroic calibre they are deemed to be. but just as she is grateful for his presence here, it would be better in any other circumstance; right now? right now it isn't too safe to meander in the horizon.]

I'll hold you to that.

[to a story for another day. her expression grows softer.]

We shouldn't stay in the Horizon for much longer. We might get bombarded with more memories, though I... hope you can visit again, if all this blows over some time.

[is it permanent or temporary? they'll have to wait and see.]

[funbreaker]

[ That's certainly his cue to leave, and in truth it's overdue. Thancred should not have been here in the first place, and yet he can't say that he regrets it despite everything that they witnessed. It allowed him and Wanda to connect on a few different levels, ones they may not have otherwise.

He pushes out of the seat and straightens out his coat, nodding to Wanda in swift agreement. ]

I would be happy to. It's a nice spot that you have here.

[ He gives the cabin's interior one last look before making for the door, then pauses right inside of it. ]

And I appreciate you offering company to Himeka. It grants me some peace of mind.

[ Himeka is, of course, completely capable of taking care of herself. Still, Thancred worries, and she certainly isn't immune to loneliness. ]