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abraxaslogs2022-05-11 10:56 am
- castiel; the hanged man,
- cirilla of cintra; the devil,
- commander shepard; judgement,
- dean winchester; the lovers,
- geralt of rivia; the hanged man,
- goro; the chariot,
- himeka sui; the fool,
- inej ghafa; the hierophant,
- jaskier; the sun,
- jayce talis; the magician,
- jesper fahey; the wheel of fortune,
- kell maresh; the magician,
- nero (dmc); the chariot,
- rhy maresh; the lovers,
- sam wilson; justice,
- sasarai; judgement,
- stephen strange; death,
- thancred waters; strength,
- tony stark; the magician,
- viktor; death,
- wanda maximoff; the hanged man,
- y'shtola rhul; the high priestess
[ OPEN ] no more wasting time.
What: sam is calling a Summoned Town Hall (and get-together.)
Where: sam's horizon
When: mid-may (one afternoon into evening)
Warnings: will update as necessary.
THE SETUP
This meeting has been planned for some time now - at least from Sam's point of view. Even before the Summit he knew this would be important, but between the Eclipse and the dream of the Eye and everything that followed, there were some other things that required his attention. But as soon as that all settled, and as soon as the Free Cities started reaching out for reports, proving that each of the Summoned have been watched and tracked down, well. Big Brother always has to start somewhere.
So he reaches out to Stephen and Wanda - tells them of his plan for a meeting, about getting everyone together to discuss the impending war, the factions, and everything that came before. He left it up to Wanda and Stephen to disseminate the information and invitation however they saw fit - anyone was invited, of course, but that didn't mean everyone needed to attend. This was intended to be a smaller group, more contained, so as not to attract any unwanted attention, but who knew what happened once the date and time got out there.
Once everyone arrives, they'll be directed into the main area of the house - where the living room and kitchen meet to form one of the corners. It will be a bit of a tight squeeze, depending on how many show up, but there will also be plenty of chairs, couch space, corners, and wherever else anyone will want to settle and listen.
When everyone has filed in and found their spot, Sam will come to stand at the front and center of the room. He plans to address everyone first with something of a speech (Captain America, anyone?) which he will then open up the floor to questions (see open top level below). There will be a point in the middle of the questions that Sam will seem to catch notice in the corner of the room and - distractedly - will direct all questions to Stephen as he nods and heads up the stairs - followed closely behind by Geralt, who seems to have just appeared - but he will be back in about fifteen or so minutes and will pick up directly where he left off.
Once Sam believes the questions have settled, or at the very least everyone is way too hungry to sit still for any longer, he will dismiss everyone for food, drinks, or just smaller circles of discussion. Meeting's over, go stuff your face with Horizon food! But be warned - Julie's manning the bar. OOC INFO
- It is Sam's intention that this to be a closer cr/smaller group, but as it is with any invitation/meeting, the word can easily get out, so feel free to have your character have learned about it/heard about it/stumble in even if they don't know Sam.
- Any questions that you want your character to pose to Sam directly, please put under this top level and I will prioritize. Because these are questions in an open forum, go ahead and note on your tag if you are down for other characters to chime in, etc.
- For about 15 minutes or so, Stephen will be in charge of answering questions (much to his dismay and with no preparation or warning). So if you want your question to be directed to him, please make a note.
- please feel free to leave a top-level below for mingling after the speech/q&a session. Sam's entire domain is open, save for one locked bedroom upstairs. It'll be a bit like a barbeque, a bit like an after-party, a bit like some chill time at Sam's horizon to meet and greet whoever is around.
- if you have any other questions, feel free to hit me up at disarmingly or pm this account!
THE SPEECH
[ sam isn't nervous, exactly, as everyone starts filing in. most of the faces he recognizes, most of the faces know their way around, so it's not like there's a whole lot of this that feels all that serious. it's not until a few more people start showing up, faces that sam doesn't recognize right off the bat, that has him shifting into something a little more...well, professional. it's been years since he's led any sort of counseling session. longer, if you want to count the snap. and while this definitely isn't counseling, it's starting to feel similar enough.
so as more people start showing up, and as they get closer and closer to the time that sam had sent around with everyone, sam starts pulling himself away from conversations. starts telling people to take seats wherever they can find a spot. it's a squeeze - his living room isn't exactly made for a community meeting - so he ends up having some of them spill over into the kitchen area, some even back behind the island. where he stands in the hallway between, everyone can see him. and honestly, anyone in the house can hear him, so it doesn't matter all that much where everyone ends up.
it's a few minutes later before he's in front of everyone, with one of the kitchen bar stools pulled up so he can sit (lord knows he's not imagining some kind of podium today). then, once everyone has appeared to have settled and with a breath and straightening of his shoulders, he begins. ]
First off- I want to welcome everyone to my place. A bunch of y'all have been here before, sure, but some are new, so I just want to make one ground rule pretty clear: don't be assholes. This place will always be open for you, even if I'm not around, but treat it like what it is, which is my house. No fighting, no destroying my place, nothing. I don't care that all this is technically magic or we could all fix it up however we want, it's my home. Respect it.
[ and then he smiles, which shifts what was beginning to feel a bit like some kind of parent or babysitter figure into something that feels a bit more welcoming. a bit warmer. there's a hint here for those that don't know him of the fact that this isn't always the way he carries himself. isn't always how he acts. but there is a job to do, a point to get to, and so he doesn't fully relax. ]
And thank y'all for coming. The last time we had one of these was...well, it was some time ago, back when we were all in the castle. And considering some of the events since then, I figured it's about time we all had another of these get-togethers.
My name's Sam, [ hi sam. ] And I live in Cadens, the capital of the Free Cities. I've been in Abraxas just over a year, and was part of the first group that got pulled through the portal, back when Ambrose in Castle Thorne was the only one doing it. So if any of y'all have questions about what's happened since we first started showing up, I can talk you through some of it, or at least try and answer what I can; but I'm gonna ask you save those questions for after all this. I didn't call this sort of Town Hall for a history lesson, at least not entirely, and I planned on having time for questions.
[ as he keeps talking, it's less that the smile fades and more that his tone takes on a heavier weight to it. a subtle shift, from someone welcoming a group of people into their living room to someone with a little more authority to him. he's not trying to be intimidating, or scary, or even all that unapproachable. more so, he's here for a purpose, and that purpose is important. and that's the set to his shoulders as he starts up again. ]
Now, if you didn't know already, this world has a few centuries of history under its belt. And just like any other world, or continent, or whatever you want to call it - all the different kingdoms, or factions, haven't always gotten along. These big three we know most about - Thorne, Solvunn, and the Cities - have a lot of that tangled history between them, and us showing up has only complicated it even more. These beliefs are pretty much in direct opposition to each other, and that includes what they think we - the Summoned - are here to do and how to treat us.
[ as sam talks, his arms come to cross over his chest and his eyes slowly start to move around the room - from face to face, person to person. he takes time, in his way, to make eye contact with just about everyone in the room. to connect with everyone, if he can. ]
Where we come in is the fact these factions are on the brink of war, and I don't say this lightly. Events, since we've arrived, have already escalated, to a point that we can't ignore them anymore. Now- that could mean days, that could mean months, hell. It could be years before the first shot is taken- but Thorne, Solvunn, and the Cities have all made it clear they're headed in that direction, and they are going to try and bring us along for the ride. I've been told that the people showing up in the barracks outside of Cadens are literally being told they've been drafted.
[ he pauses, as if waiting to see if that even surprises anyone - that there's a war, that the cities are actively looking towards their military, that this is known. but before anyone can pipe in, he picks up again. ]
If being a part of this war is something you do want in on, then man, go for it. Consider yourself lucky. But I'm here, now, to let people know that we're not all here for that reason and that there are a lot of us who are actively against it. War is not new to me, as it probably isn't for a lot of you. I've done my fair share of fighting in them, and fighting against them breaking out at all, but I'm not naive, either. With centuries on centuries of bad blood behind these kingdoms, it's not a matter of someone showing up and saying the right thing at the right time. As much as I might want to, I'm not going to walk in and talk to the Prime Minister of the Cities and get her to stand down from this war. Believe me- I've already tried. But that's also okay, because at this point my goal isn't to try and fix their problems for them. [ which...okay, there might be some thinly veiled frustration there. because sam has, actually, tried. a couple of times now. and he's less than thrilled by how it was received. was he surprised? not at all. but that doesn't mean he's happy about it either. ]
What I'm here to do - and what I'm here to talk to all y'all about, today - is just to make sure you know that you don't need to fight their war. They brought us here without our say, called by the Singularity and whatever tether we're supposed to have with it. Some of these places have welcomed us, and some haven't been given the welcome they deserve. But this place, these factions, however it is they've treated you - you are not a weapon for them to manipulate and you are not a soldier drafted into their war. And I want everyone here to remember that, because they will try and convince you to their cause, and honestly, they probably won't be that wrong in their reasons why.
But their problems are not for you to solve - not unless you want to - and you're not alone in this.
It's easy to forget how many of us are here when we're all split up across this continent - and sure, we have the Horizon to keep us connected, we've got that weird sort of- [ he gestures out towards one of the walls, though it's hard to tell what he means until he continues- ] -sparkling text thing that means we can keep in contact, but that's not the same. And when you're isolated, it's real easy to get caught up in these reasons, or opinions, of the factions.
I'm here to tell you that are aren't alone. And while any decision you want to make, or any side you want to join, is up to you - you do have all these people in this room at your back. We are in this together, and we can be here for each other, and what that means for me is making sure we don't get caught up in this war.
And honestly - I'm not here to ask for help. If you want to, hell, I'll take all the help I can get. But it's not your job, and it's not your responsibility. This isn't some recruitment meeting, no, I'm just asking you to be aware of what’s happening around you, and not to get manipulated by propaganda. Think for yourself. Keep your eyes open.
[ there is a brief moment here where sam pauses, like he's taking a breath. like he's letting everything he just said settle. it feels a bit like he's wrapping up, when he lets out this next breath. bare with him - he won't talk forever. ]
There are a lot of us who have gotten settled in our time here, and some who are just looking for a place to call home. These factions - they're going to fight for their home, and if you want to fight for yours, I'm not going to stop you. But it is your choice, and we- [ a beat, and then sam gives a small, slightly tired smile and settles back into his chair. it looks a bit like he was going to gesture to some key people around him, but like he makes the decision to leave it to him, instead. ] -I am here to make sure you know that. And to help in whatever way I can.
Now. [ another pause, and then sam claps, drawing everyone's attention back together. ] Any questions?
no subject
[ She shoots it back just as easily, smirking. Julie wants people to have a good time, of course, but by controlling the general levels of intoxication in a crowd, she also has an upper hand on anyone she sets her sights on.
With a scoff, Julie takes another sip, her eyes rolling to the darkened sky. ]
He thinks he's so clever, but he's too fuckin' blind to realize that the government muckety-mucks in Cadens are runnin' him like a rat in a maze. He has no clue what he's messin' with.
[ Julie hates the crown in Thorne, but she's afraid of the government in the Free Cities. She is a survivor of what a wealthy, militaristic country is capable of doing, and hers wasn't doing it intentionally. At least not when Captain Trips got out. But the creation, the cover-up, the aftermath... so few of them have any clue at all. People like Julie, Nadine, Sam and Wanda, they know. They've experienced the machine. As far as Julie is concerned, Cadens might be the only place in all the universe worse than America, because they have magic on top of it all. ]
I'm not worried about who wants to play their game. I'm more worried about what happens in the aftermath.
no subject
[wanda hates that she knows this much from goro, that insatiable lust for war and pain. the connection she had made with him still sticks to her skin and she can't get rid of it, a part of her having really basked in the idea of destruction and—
total dominance.
she takes a sip of the drink to drive her thoughts away.]
What can we do, if the factions of this world want to go at each other's throats? [with a slight sigh, she slumps back into the chair.] Prevent as much as we can. Protect the innocent ones. Not die in the process.
[scrunching her nose, she looks over at julie.]
Conversation too heavy to have over drinks?
no subject
[ She chuckles, shakes her head a little as she takes a sip and sits back in her chair. ]
Girl, you have no idea the kinda stuff I've talked about over drinks. This is breezier'n talkin' about a sale at Wal-Mart. [ Which is true, considering Julie has literally watched death battles as dinner entertainment. ] If they do get a war, we pack up and go to the one place they can't. The Singularity.
no subject
it's the kind of momentum needed to leave that topic of conversation behind.]
You know, I spent many years in the United States but never set foot in a Wal-Mart. Is it really that bad?
[if julie somehow figured wanda wasn't american, this is her confirmation of it.]
I don't think I could stay there, though. There are people I want to protect, many children in Solvunn who don't deserve to suffer the war.
no subject
She snorts, shakes her head a little. Getting away from the Wal-Marts of the world had always been a dream of hers -- anything to live somewhere that there was even another option. ]
I guess "bad" is a matter of opinion, really. Where I'm originally from, it was basically the only store at all. There were a couple mom and pop stores left, most got put outta business. I mean, our Wal-Mart was pretty clean, always had stuff. And no one had money, so it was the only thing most folks could afford anyway. There's, y'know, a whole bigger discussion about whether it was good or bad, in the grand scheme of things, but for us, it just was. [ There's a small shrug. ] Once I got to Vegas, things were different. I'd never seen so many different stores before, even though it wasn't the same as it had been, before. But I can tell you, once you've been in a Gucci or an Hermes store, it's real hard to even think about goin' back to a Wal-Mart.
[ She knows which she preferred. And yeah, maybe it's a simplistic way to view it, considering that she stopped needing money or to buy things like food, that she had suddenly become able to just point and own things in Vegas when she never could before. But there's enough complications in that lifestyle to not want to weigh out whether it's morally sound to value luxury over necessity. ]
No, they don't deserve to suffer. Most people don't. But sometimes, that's just how things are.
[ It's not something she says flippantly. If anything, she sounds somber and resigned. Life is cruel and not everyone can be saved, no matter how hard you try. In the end, sometimes all you can do is save yourself. ]
no subject
[wanda can understand the concept of there never quite being a good or a bad. though she gave pietro a hard time about his adventures, her being upset always stemmed from her concern for his well-being. things like medicine and food was important in a war-ridden novi grad, where all those necessities were hardly found anymore; clothes were just him trying to flirt with the women their age.
she stretches her legs out, taking a moment to feel it remove the kinks from her muscles before relaxing.]
He would run really fast.
[perhaps she will turn the focus of conversation towards pietro, to something that—while not easier—can be a little less hard to talk about. war is never a fun topic.]
What kind of stores can you find in Cadens? I can tell you, there are not so very exciting ones in Solvunn.
no subject
[ Within days of the power going out, all the meat and vegetables and fruit were rendered inedible with the summer heat. The bread started molding, the dairy all turned. Everything frozen melted, and there was no way to cook it anyway. For weeks in the aftermath, she'd eaten nothing but packaged snacks, stuffed with enough preservatives to last. Chips and cookies and crackers, dry cereals. Which sounded great until the end of the third or fourth day, when her body started crying out for anything with some kind of nutritional value.
It was like that until she actually got to Vegas.
Julie takes another sip from her cup and draws her legs up underneath herself, one arm wrapped around her knees. She rolls her eyes thoughtfully as she considers the question. ]
Cadens has a lot of shops, way more'n Nott. General stores and markets for food, clothing shops, all kinds of little specialty places. A lotta stores for just... shit made of crystals? They really like crystals out there. Jaskier has a flower stand, sometimes I help out there.
no subject
—when I got my powers, he also got his own. Speed. Time would stream by too slowly for him. [a quirk of a brow] He never really got to make it so he wouldn't run out of breath after a long sprint.
[much in the same way that her powers took a lot of time for her to control them better, the same would have been for pietro. it's unfortunate he never got the chance to really grow into his powers.
the idea of eating snack food for three months sounds downright awful, though.]
Crystals? That's funny.
[and a little unexpected.]
It sounds like an actual proper city. Solvunn is just a bunch of families who know each other for generations, getting by, sharing. [she pauses a moment, curls her lips for a moment.] They do treat the Summoned really special. They think we're their old gods, or something.
no subject
Her head tilts as Wanda speaks, because it has never occurred to her that magic can be gained. From how she has come to understand it, and after some self-reflection, Julie had begun to believe that the ability to use magic was more or less inborn, but not every world had it floating around to use. She has explained it before, that she had felt aimless and empty in her own world, that it wasn't until she was free in Abraxas that she could feel that space fill with magic. She assumes that it was always supposed to be like that. It was just bad luck that she was born in a world that was incapable of giving it to her. ]
So you didn't have magic your whole life? Why did you get different powers?
[ It's just curiosity. Julie has not exactly pinpointed how Wanda's world works; she knows that Sam doesn't have powers, but he's still apparently a superhero. Their world seems to have both, technology superheroes and superpower superheroes. Like dropping a bunch of different comic books in a blender together.
She also gives some thought to whether Wanda's brother could have built his lung capacity like that. ]
Well, even like Usain Bolt would be outta breath after runnin', and let alone to other countries. Oh, that's uh, the fastest runner in my world, in case he's not in yours. So maybe it makes sense that he would still be winded? It might be real fast, but it's a long way to run. But, I mean, I can barely run up two flights of stairs without huffin' and puffin' a bit, so what do I know?
[ Because she really is just speculating on the concept. These things are interesting to her simply because she is still adjusting to the fact that they are real for so many people. ]
Oh yeah, the Cities are a lot more like what I was used to. Nott is a full-sized town but it's still kinda... Medieval Times-y? The castle even moreso. [ She takes a sip of her drink, mulling over a vague thought she recalls discussing once. ] Once, I talked to someone in Solvunn, and she seemed to think that maybe the old gods were Summoned too. But I don't know about that. From what we know, they couldn't make it work before last year.
no subject
I've been asking myself the same question for the past year, ever since... this other witch explained it to me. I always had magic, according to her, I just didn't know it. When Pietro and I were exposed to the Mind Stone—
[pausing, wanda makes a face. that needs an explanation, doesn't it? she waves her hand in front of her head for a moment, dismissively.]
One of six cosmic stones. [anyway] It basically made us more "in-tune" with our powers. [here, she does air quotes with the hand that's holding the glass of wine.] Even more scary is that my existence was written in this old magical book, but I have no idea why Pietro's power was different from mine.
[wanda looks down at the ground for a moment, and smiles. usually, it's difficult to speak of pietro, but she's glad that julie has somehow become this person that wanda can so freely talk to. it's nice, to talk about her brother and remember him fondly rather than sadly, even if the pain remains close to her heart.
she nods a few times.]
Yeah. Yeah. I know who Usain Bolt is. [her gaze returns to julie] Pietro was a lot faster than that. Perhaps I should cut him some slack; he would hate that I am describing him so poorly.
[it's interesting, regardless, to hear about these two places she hasn't been to. she got an impression back in the summit, but it would probably not compare to how they actually are.
wanda nudges at julie's dangling foot with her own.]
I'm not very good at expressing myself, but — I just want to say thank you, for letting me talk about Pietro. It's nice to remember him, and imagine that if he would be summoned here, he would totally ditch me in Solvunn to be in the Cities, from what it sounds like.
no subject
[ All she can do is shrug. There's so much that she has just accepted she'll never understand. Magic stones and being a human roadrunner are just two on the list.
Tilting her head to one side, Julie looks at Wanda, maybe with a bit of surprise in her eyes. ] You don't hafta thank me. I -- I know how it is to miss people. But people are only gone when no one remembers their name. I used to...
[ There's a pause where she falters, looks away and frowns. It's like reaching into the depths of her soul to talk about, even if she knows it's for the best. ]
I used to just write down names. I was alone. So I got the biggest piece of posterboard I could find and wrote down every name I could remember, in all different colors. Had a whole stack of 'em. I was the only person who was still around to do it.
no subject
it makes a lot of sense. as far as she knows, stephen strange learned magic eventually; it's not like he was using it in his days of working as a doctor in a hospital. she nods thoughtfully, and tries to hide the grin at the mention of super speed being somewhat different from magic.
enhanced powers, she would call it, perhaps. different, but similar; fitting to each other, really.]
Perhaps.
[—and because wanda knows through julie's memory that there is some deep, deep pain beneath all the quips and big party vibes, she reaches a hand out to hold onto the other woman's.]
That's a really good idea. It's really nice — to meet so many people here. People to care for.
[reticent as wanda is, she's found people she can say she cares for to the same extent as those from her world. with a light squeeze, she lets go. it's good that julie is in the free cities, with those people she had seen in the nice memory she had pulled out from her, so many weeks ago.]
Do you still do something like that? The posterboard?
no subject
If not, Julie and Nadine are the only souls left anywhere who remember that Earth. ]
I couldn't keep it up. I had to -- there was a long trip I had to make, I couldn't take that kinda stuff with me. I still remember the names, though. All my family, my friends. People from town.
[ Even people she met in Vegas, she can remember their names. None of it goes away, not the names or the faces or the voices. She can only block it out, try to stack the new people in front of those memories so that she doesn't have to think about it all. ]
There are a lot of people here I'm glad I met. I kinda thought I would never meet a new person ever again.
no subject
there was no longer a sokovia for her, and coming to america and joining the avengers was supposed to help. the future really is uncertain.
it makes wanda wonder, and so... she asks.]
If you could return to your world—would you?
no subject
[ She trails off again and sighs. They don't talk about it often, she and Nadine. There's nothing good to say or think about, not really. It's just death and trauma and misery, and things are hard enough without bringing that baggage along all the time. But Wanda has shared, Wanda has seen. She didn't see the true extent of it, but she saw what happened.
Julie takes a drink that should theoretically drain her cup, but it's still full when she swallows. ]
My world, it doesn't really exist anymore. I mean, the planet itself does, but... there was a plague. We call it Captain Trips, or just the superflu. The military made it in secret, as a weapon, but it got out. It was the most infectious disease ever, and the deadliest. More than 99 percent of people got sick, and they all died. Usually within a few days. It only took about a month, maybe six weeks, to wipe out nearly everyone in America. Probably the whole world. Not just people, but animals too. Dogs, cats, horses, livestock. But some of us, we were just... immune. No one knows why. We were all that was left. Society just kinda collapsed a few weeks into the whole thing. First the internet went down -- that was the government, tryin' to cover it up, so we couldn't communicate. Then the water, the power. There was no gas to drive very far. The stores were all looted for food.
[ It takes her another moment to continue, her forehead knit and her voice quiet. ]
I was the only survivor for hundreds of miles, in my town. I lived in the middle of nowhere. It was about a month that I didn't see any other livin' person. I really thought I was the last person on earth, but I was lucky 'cause at least there was a store I could stay in. A big box store, it shut down before things got really bad, so there weren't any bodies in there, and it still had food and everythin' else I needed. When I left, I had to walk from Kansas to Vegas. It took two months. My shoes filled up with blood, I almost ran outta food. But Vegas, people were comin' together there. They got the power back up, 'cause the dam was still goin'. There was years and years' worth of food frozen in the hotels. Lots of empty rooms and homes. And other people. But even then, there were maybe only two thousand total? A little less? Basically just mankind's dyin' gasp.
[ She has to take a long drag off her joint, and she almost manifests a few xanax for herself, but lets that urge pass. ]
So no, I wouldn't go back. It would be goin' back to nothin'. Maybe it would be nice to have a few more years with my family, but even then, I'd know it was comin'. And I'd lose my magic.
no subject
it's a terrifying though.
in a world where the only promise you can be certain of is that the world will reach its end in your lifetime and you would be devoid of magic, it would truly not be worth going back to it.
after julie's done talking, wanda stands, ushers the other woman to scoot on her seat to allow wanda space to join her. they never talked about what the memory had shown them so many weeks ago—of a young julie looking after the corpses of her mother and father, of how much she cried, of how much she tried. she wraps an arm around julie and puts her head down against her shoulder.]
Pietro and I lost our parents when we were ten. A bomb crashed into our apartment, killing them. I couldn't wrap my head around it—they had been sitting on the couch watching television with us, and when I looked again they were dead. We hid for two days, afraid of the second bomb on top of them exploding. The cold kept their bodies, but we could hear and smell the changes.
[she pulls away a touch.]
I had Pietro back then. He was my rock. But you were... by yourself. I'm so sorry, Julie.
no subject
If she's honest, she has mixed feelings, enough to create a sense of guilt. The world that she lost was not one that she cared much for -- Julie was from the kind of place where women like her were not looked on kindly. She was poor, her parents were drunks and her kind of intelligence was not the variety that was useful in the most podunk parts of the Midwest. She had meant it when she said that she felt aimless back that, when she didn't have magic. But it was home, and it was where her family was. Julie had never been further than Wichita before Captain Trips, so she lost every single person she'd ever known in a fell swoop. Vegas had been everything she'd wanted out of life back then, she actually got her dream, but it was a lie built on sand. Always destined to fail. She knows that now -- but at the time, there were no other options. Trusting Flagg was all she could do.
But it doesn't make it all hurt less. To lose everyone she loved, everything she knew. To know how it all ends.
Julie sighs. As far as she knows, her world didn't have a Sokovia, but it's easy enough to peg it to Eastern Europe. And war, well, that was America's bread and butter, wasn't it? It would never surprise her to find out that the Americans of Wanda's world had a hand in that chaos too. It's probably not shocking that Julie has no faith in governments or militaries anymore. ]
I think it had to happen. I think it all had to happen, for me to get here. It probably sounds really stupid or self-centered or whatever, but something about this place was meant for me. I can't figure another reason why things happen for me that don't happen for other people, here. In the Horizon, with the Singularity.
[ She pauses again, though it's pregnant, like she's making a decision as to whether to say something. The first time she ever said it, she'd actually been drunk in this same yard, in a similar discussion of trauma. She turns to Wanda and there is a shimmer in the bottom of her eyes now. She takes Wanda's hand. ]
I want you to know somethin'. It's not a promise or anythin', it's just what happened to me and a few others I met. Pietro really might come here one day. They have to summon him, but... Wanda, I'm dead. [ There's a furrow in her brow, and she rushes to add, ] I mean, not here. But back home, I died. Vegas is gone, wiped off the map. It's a long story. There are others here who died too. Came here after their death, like me. So it really might happen.
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and sometimes, things happen for a reason.
her heart skips a beat when julie says that pietro really might come one day, because it's one thing to yearn for it—it's different when someone says it with abundant confidence. instead, however, it's the revelation that she's dead that impacts wanda the most. with that secret spoken out loud, wanda takes hold of julie's hand.]
I know.
[—about the dead coming here. tony stark was certainty enough of that, the first month she had come here. time is irrelevant to these summons, it seemed. what's most important is the fact that julie says that she is dead.]
I think that if Pietro ever came here, I would do everything in my power to have him stay forever. To know my brother is alive somewhere, that would give me peace. [she squeezes her friend's hand.] You deserve everything that makes you special here, Julie. I'm glad you were summoned.
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Exhaling, she stubs out her joint on the ground and then slouches in the chair, puts her head on Wanda's shoulder. ] I said to someone a long time ago that I think this place gives us what we deserve. I think I still believe that. 'Course, sometimes that's what you make of it, but... it's just interestin'. Most of us seem to have come from real shitty worlds, or there was bad stuff happenin' to us when they took us. But I've only ever met a few folks who seemed like they actually deserved what they were goin' through. So I think part of why we have this place, the Horizon, is so that we can be happy and rest. The Singularity doesn't have to give us this space, right? It would be just as easy for it to not exist.