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Eric Evernalt

"Shh, just let me solve everything. . ." (WIP)

0 · 665 views · located in Am Caillte

a character in “The Mozaik Role”, as played by Monochrome

Description

Eric
Image

Full Name:
Eric Solar Evernalt
Age:
17
Sexuality:
Bisexual, though he generally plays around, so he's not too sure.
Appearance:
Eric's eyes are a brown color, but they’re a light brown and look slightly orange. He's quite aloof, so the look in his eyes is often one someone wears when his mind is somewhere completely different from his own location. The people at work often wave their hands in front of him and he doesn't notice for a few minutes, since his thoughts are elsewhere in the universe.

The boy's hair is a reddish-brown. His brother, Eden, cuts it for him.. Sometimes, it's tied back in a loose ponytail, like when he's working. It's usually quite messy, even if it starts out neat in the morning. Eric's hair actually covers most of his face, unless he messes with it. It covers his eyes so he can easily look around without people noticing. The bangs cover his face down to his cheekbones at the moment, but with a flick of the hand, it's out and his eyes are visible.

He wears glasses when he watches the television, or is reading, but otherwise he never touched the thing. Eric wears a ring around his left hand's index finger, and one on his right hand's middle finger. He is quite tall, but skinny for someone his age, despite how much he eats. Usually, he has a small, flirty smirk on his face when talking to people.

Eric has a scar on the right side of his neck, but he’s not sure what it’s from and he doesn’t mind showing it. He has a feminine face, and quite long lashes. He and his brother, Eden, look literally identical, apart from the hair style. Eden, however, looks a tiny bit more like a girl.

Preferred Clothing:
His favourite colour is blue, so he wears blue ties or something with his outfits. Eric tends to stick to jeans and shirts, yet somehow pulls off making it interesting with odd accessories.
Role:
The Flirtatious Heartbreaker
Love Interest:
None.
Skills:
He's quite terrible at drawing, and he cooks quite well, but it's not a hobby. His hobbies are basically reading and writing. He reads almost every type of book; romance, non-fiction, fantasy, manga, anything. His writing is on his laptop. Oh, his poor tiny laptop that's running out of space due to the insane amount of word documents.
Personality:
Well, Eric generally acts like he's surrounded by roses at all times. Since he's broken the hearts of many girls at his school, he's obviously a big flirt! In fact, he only uses his flirting-skills when he needs something, or when he's bored, so don't expect him to turn all prince-like just for your own pleasure. After all, he's not part of a host club!

Most of the time, Eric comes off as quite a joker, always seeing the situation from another angle. If there's an argument, he'll usually try to laugh it off instead of getting all hot-headed (like his brother can be). Maybe sleep on it, you know? To be able to deal with such a mess of a brother, he has to try being the level-headed one, so even if Eden looks like he has more control on the situation, it's usually actually his little brother. The only things he doesn't find funny is when people insult Eden. He's more of the "I can insult him, but you can't or I'll kill you!" type, so when this happens, he'll usually do a heel-turn and become all defensive.

Distinguishing Features:
Well, most girls say his grin~
Charm Point:
How he acts around people he trusts.
Likes:
A list, at least 5
Dislikes:
Another list, at least five
Fears:
Claustrophobia - Fear of tight spaces
Sort of takes after Eden, really. He's more scared of them 'cause he knows Eden'll probably faint in a tight space (How manly!)
Automatonophobia- Fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues; anything that falsly represents a sentient being.
Well, they're kind of nightmare fuel, really.
Thanatophobia or Thantophobia- Fear of death or dying.
Eric's come pretty close, so it's understandable.
Pathophobia- Fear of disease.
Once again, he's been there.
Eremophobia- Fear of being oneself or of loneliness.
Eric doesn't like the idea of loneliness in general.
Fibriophobia - Fear of fever
To be explained in History

History:
Biography. (3-4 paragraphs)
How to be a Heartbreaker - Marina and the Diamonds
Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun
But baby when you're done, you gotta be the first to run
Rule number two, just don't get attached to
Somebody you could lose
So le-let me tell you

This is how to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a little danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger
A player, singing I lo-lo-love you
How to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like the look of danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger
A player, singing I lo-lo-love you
At least I think I do

Cause I lo-lo-lo-love you

Rule number three, wear your heart on your cheek
But never on your sleeve, unless you wanna taste defeat
Rule number four, gotta be looking pure
Kiss him goodbye at the door, and leave him wanting more, more

This is how to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a little danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger
A player, singing lo-lo-love you
How to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like the look of danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger
A player, singing lo-lo-love you
At least I think I do

Cause I lo-lo-love you

Girls, we do, whatever it will take
Cause girls don't want, we don't want our hearts to break in two
So it's better to be fake, can't risk losing
In love again, ba-abe

This is how to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like a little danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger
A player, singing lo-lo-love you
How to be a heartbreaker
Boys they like the look of danger
We'll get him falling for a stranger
A player, singing lo-lo-love you

Cause I lo-lo-lo-love you

At least I think I do

Other:

So begins...

Eric Evernalt's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt
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Eden & Eric


It was a hot winter's morning. Usually, the winter in Am Caillte was hot, hotter than summer, so it was no surprise to the residents there. Although it snowed, the snow stayed placed on the ground like some sort of magic spell. Almost no one was out, save for a few young innocent souls who daren't mind the weather, since their fun would end if they did, and the parents of those young children. All the shops were open, albeit empty, and lights reflected across the snow placed so carefully on the ground. The city of Dianc Blodau itself had a few more people walking around, but that was probably due to the parade.

Dianc Blodau's famous Festival of Light was coming up soon, so Considering the fact that the city was just a giant spiral, sectioned into seven different parts, most people just watched from their windows. The footsteps from the parade were crush the snow, making crisp noises as the music plays throughout the city street. Cherry blossom trees line the street, blooming early even for Am Caillte and it's odd weather. The flowers, ridden with frost, sometimes even release their petals into the morning air.

To sum it up, it's a typical, slightly warmer than usual, day in Dianc Blodau.

Among the holiday-makers and the children with rosy cheeks was the Evernalt family (Population - 3, if dogs count) and a few of the younger brother's friends. Xander, the dog, was chasing air. Eric Evernalt was having fun in the snow, his friends from school tagging along. Right now, a massive snowball fight was occurring, leaving Eden Evernalt casually making a snowman, distanced. He looked out of it as he patted the snowman's round head and brought his hands to his scarf. The boy was just about to take it off when he was struck with an idea, like lightning, and walked in the middle of the snowball fight. A snowball was all it took, and it whacked him in the back of his head, knocking him on the ground. He turned on the floor so that he was facing upwards and saw the fight had stopped, Eric's friends frozen mid-fight as his younger brother's laugh filled the cold park. Eden frowned and stood up, wiping snow down from his loose, baggy shirt.

His eyes easily found his brother's smiling face and he walked up to him, a questioning look in his eyes. "We shouldn't be out in the snow. You shouldn't be out in the snow." he said softly, nonchalantly. Eric simply smiled in response, gesturing at Eden's clothes; red denim shorts, stopping at about fifteen centimetres above his knee.

His white shirt was hanging off one shoulder with the words 'I don't really care' on the front, a black vest top underneath, a 'cute' bag slung over his shoulder, and knee length socks, one half way up and the other down.

"What are you wearing?" Eric said simply, patting his older-yet-shorter brother on the head. Eden just stared at him. Eric got a bit bored, not even earning himself an angry retort from Eden and opened his mouth to continue, before Eden grabbed his hand and started marching away, dragging the poor boy away from his friends. Xander's attention was grabbed and he ran up to the boys, barking gleefully. They laughed, knowing the antics of the two while Eric shouted "Sorry, my brother's being a bit of a girl!" and winked. He saw two of his five friends, one boy and one girl, blush furiously at this and he laughed, turning around to walk in the same way as Eden. "Hey, why are you being a jerk?" he joked, grinning.

Eden stopped and turned to face his brother, suddenly aggravated. "Why am I angry, you mean? Well, I'm sorry for worrying about my brother, who's been ill for Uwchben knows how long! Plus, I want my EntEr back. It's too hot outside for snowball fights and whatever. Remember what the doctor said, don't overexercise your body. I don't wanna be going back every couple of weeks, again." By the time he ended his rant, his voice had become softer and he frowned, glancing up at his brother before carrying on walking. Eden then looked at his dog, some odd thing in his mouth and sighed.

"Eugh, what is that?" he said bending down to look at what Xander had. It didn't seem to be. . . anything, really. "Xander, drop it. Xander? Drop it! Drop!" The dog stared at him, tilting his head to the left. When Eric looked up, he saw Eden tilting his own head to the right in confusion. Looking at the two, he burst out laughing.

Eden raised an eyebrow, before staring at Xander. "Drop that." he said, his voice firm. Xander dropped it immediately, running up to Eden and nuzzling his thigh. Eden patted the dog on the head. "Good boy!" he said, patting the dog for a few seconds before carrying on until his was in front of the supermarket, G(arch)olau, stopping, he turned to check if the two were still behind him. Check. he thought, looking at them blankly.

"It feels like we've been walking in circles!" Eric laughed, and Eden looked at him before sighing deeply. He grabbed a trolley and started pushing it down the isle, subconsciously grabbing the right things (and some random, unneeded stuff) off the shelves as he spaced out completely. Eric sighed, waving his hand in front of his brother's face. Nothing. He'd lost him, at least for the next ten minutes. The younger boy took control of the trolley, looking at the contents. Sure, they'd gotten everything they needed, but it seemed Eden had loaded on three different games, all three in the FAIRII series, green paint- Wait, what the hell? Jewellery, tissues, a map of a completely different city. . . hey, is that the one he was in before? Hey, what's that book about? Animals in cold countries? I'm putting this back. he thought, reaching into the trolley. His hand was grabbed tightly and he looked up to see Eden staring at him. "Hey, your eyes aren't even focused." he said in a small voice.

His older brother just looked at him. "I want that." he said, his voice faraway.

Eric stopped for a second, before speaking. "Well you can't-"

"I want that." Eden repeated, seizing the trolley and striding towards the till in a trance. Eric sighed as Eden payed without another word, even when the cashier-lady asked him if he was okay. That rendered her quite suspicious.

She frowned, and Eric glanced at her brown hair; it was up in at least eight bunches, and the whole of her fringe was dyed purple. "Are you sure you haven't drugged this poor boy?" she said, not looking up from the shopping. Eric simply leaned over the counter, his finger on the bottom of her chin as he pulled her face up.

"Would I really drug my own brother? Older brother?" he said venomously, the flirty front melting in a matter of seconds. The girl looked down at the shopping and scanned everything in a hurry, even missing a few things and Eric payed, laughing.

For a good half-hour, the two walked in silence, Eric humming songs to himself, while Eden was in his daze. Eric's eyes caught onto a ship there, lying on the shore and he walked towards it, even letting out a loud gasp. His hand ran against the side of the ship, his eyes taking in the giant tree growing near the mast, the ripped jolly roger swaying in the wind. "Wow!" he said, not even noticing that there was no snow on the ship whatsoever. He took Eden's hand and ran onto the ship, just like a child, and looked at it all, not remembering anything. He looked at Eden, grinning. "This is amazing, right?" Eden looked at nothing in particular, before getting that feeling you get when you're about to fall asleep and it literally feels like you're falling (a hypnic jerk). He even dropped the shopping bags in shock.

Glancing around wildly, he looked at the tree, seemingly remembering things. In turn, he glared at Eric. "Why are we here?" he growled, remembering he used to play here with. . . Blank. It was part of his memory which was just half-there. He sighed.

"Wow, you knew about this place?" Eric gasped. "And you didn't tell me?"

Eden frowned. "You know about this too." he said. "You used to come here to play with me and our friends, remember? You were so clingy, I had to share my friends with you."

"Hey! I share my friends with you!"

"I don't even like your friends. Hey, give me my EntEr. We can have a picnic here, yeah? . . . Is that a book about animals? I didn't know you were interested in. . . well, reading." Eden said, sitting on the floor and opening a bag. It had all sorts of crazy foods in there and Eden sighed. "Was it me who bought these?"

"Yup." Eric laughed, digging into a marshmallow-flavoured-ice-cream-rainbow-sprinkled-roll.


Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel
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BGM: Mozaik Role (Music Box Edition)

It was cold - or at least, as cold as it usually got here - outside, prompting me to don my usual winter attire before exiting my home. As I fastened my trademark red scarf - it clashed wildly with my long, pale blue hair as both trailed out behind me with each step, but I liked the color, and didn't let anyone convince me otherwise - around my neck, its soft, silky folds brushing against the bottom of my chin like a comforting hand, I mused on how melancholy the world seemed, everything covered by a hazy white blanket of snow - although the haze might have just been my accursed eyes acting up again, as they were ought to do - the flowers that had only just bloomed fading like an extinguished candle and falling on the gentle breeze, their death even more beautiful than their short life. In a way, people were just like those falling petals, weren't they? They were born into this cold, harsh world, without a hope of living beyond their destined hour, and yet they struggled against fate, fighting to become something beautiful, to shine forth like a brilliant star amidst the dark and confused mortal shell around them, so that before their end finally came and the reaper came to take them to their final rest, everyone after them would know that they had existed, that they had been a worthwhile being during their short time on this earth. But, at this point, it was clear I wasn't thinking about people anymore. Rather, I was thinking about myself, and how I, too, should like to live: to be known and loved, even after I was gone, and to be admired and praised during my short life. Yes... I should have liked to have been born a Sakura tree, so that every year I might spread forth my beautiful boughs like angelic wings, and bring joy to the world below by showering it with my soft, bright petals. Even though once those petals fell, I would fade and die as the snow covered my form, I could look forward to each coming spring as the hour of my rebirth, and to the happiness I could give to the people below during the short life that would follow. To have a thousand lives, all of which would be well-spent in making the world beautiful and in being admired... it was selfish of me to desire such an existence, but desire it I did.

As I slipped into my warm, fuzzy boots, it might have - or perhaps, should have - struck me as odd that nobody stopped me at the door to accost me about the normal things normal people normally spoke about. "Cleo, where are you going?" Or, "Cleo, you'll catch another cold if you go out in the snow in such a short skirt." Or perhaps, "Cleo, don't you have studying to do for school?" Or maybe, "Cleo, you should clean your room. It's been getting very dirty recently." Or even just a simple, "Cleo, where are you headed? Be sure to be back before lunchtime." But, wait as I might have, no such words came. My father, mother, and older brother were all assembled around the breakfast table, chattering away nonchalantly as mother served another plate of pancakes to the other two, my father perusing the morning paper and sipping his coffee while my brother talked about how he was doing in his engineering courses at college. I didn't need to pay attention to know how things had gone recently - my father's favorite team had lost the most recent game causing him, in turn, to lose money on his betting, my brother was acing all of his courses, and my mother was consoling the one and congratulating the other as she always did. They were all broken records, just playing the same words over and over again with each passing morning. Nothing ever changed. Everything was the same.

The pancakes made me think of breakfast, which in turn made me think of how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday, as I'd been occupied devising some important new formulae for my experiments from morning till night, and thus hadn't had the time to leave my room to attend dinner. It didn't matter, anyway. My "dinner" was just like my "lunch" and "breakfast," comprised of whatever leftovers I could scrounge up for myself to eat. And, that was what I was going to do when I returned after my little errand, when there was nobody to bother with my presence. Even if I was hungry enough to eat a feast right now, I would have to wait. Those pancakes weren't meant for me, and I knew it. Sure, nobody had ever told me outright I couldn't eat with the rest of the family, but they had made it obvious through their actions. Whenever I approached, the conversation went dead, and the others finished what they were doing and left the room as soon as possible. It was clear I was unwanted in their ordinary lives, and they made no attempt to hide that fact from me. So, I just did the sensible thing and didn't bother them - as much as it was possible to do so, anyway. What was the point of making yourself a burden for no reason, anyway?

Surely they saw me standing in the doorway, gazing in at them, but none of them turned to look at me, or showed any sign that I even existed. This was our usual morning routine. I would exist, and, in turn, they would treat me as though I did not. This was nothing out of the ordinary, so why did it still feel disappointing to me, even after all this time?

I decided not to think about it. The conversation around the table had died down to silence, as it always did when in my presence for an extended amount of time, which meant I was being bothersome again by standing in plain view and interrupting their meal. Yes, this was the only acknowledgement I would get that I was welcome to - in fact, encouraged to - leave as soon as possible and get out of their lives. So, I did so, turning and walking to the door, taking up my small, ragged backpack as I did so and slinging it over my shoulder. Despite its meager size, it was quite heavy thanks to all the equipment I had packed it with, and it took me a moment to adjust to the weight before I could walk again without falling on my face.

Once I had enough faith in my balance to walk again, I set out, silently sliding open the door and stepping out onto the wooden porch, glancing back at the large building I had just left.

Our house was rather vast by comparison to most others around it, having once been a much-frequented shrine before being converted to a more mundane purpose. It was a one story building that expanded along the ground rather than upward, with its endless mazes of tatami-floored rooms, rice-paper windows, and sliding doors leading out onto the roughly square, roofed porch area that served as its perimeter. The slightly elevated walkway also branched off at each corner, leading like a bridge over the expansive courtyard and gardens with their many flower beds and Koi ponds to several side buildings of the main house as if its vast area was simply not enough. In the eastern corner, there was a small guest house built along the side of a garage, these two connected buildings situated right next to the gate in the small, square stone wall that formed the boundaries of our home. In the western corner, there was a small dojo which had been erected to allow my brother to practice his kendo. In the southern corner, there was a small shed containing the various tools needed for yardwork, also serving as a storage space for unneeded items. This place was one I frequented, as its vast hordes of seemingly worthless objects no one cared about were like magical treasures in my eyes, and were often required at a later date for some of my experiments. But my favorite of the four branch buildings was none of these, no matter how intriguing all of them might be.

No, the place I most often was found was situated in the northern corner of our little court, surrounded by small sakura trees and comparatively large bushes and very tall stalks of grass, coming up almost to one's waist, all of which things were in similar states of disarray. At the center of this mess was a shabby tower, the paint of which was worn and chipped, its battered, conical roof reaching upward like a beaten but heroically unbowed head, the small terrace that surrounded this like a crown of thorns to complete the overall pitiful image the old building held. All of these things were so out of place amongst the otherwise pristine courtyard and garden, as though they had somehow been simply forgotten about, just as had been forgotten the one who called this tower home: namely, myself. Forsaken by the main house and its occupants, I had moved my quarters to this place, turning it into my last refuge, on the ramparts of which I would stand courageously and face down the outside world and all of its terrors, fighting bravely to the last against the insurmountable odds in the great unknown beyond its final safe boundaries. Ironically enough, though, although I said that, I found myself going outside regardless, into the big, scary world outside the walls of this rubbish heap I viewed as a castle, even as I lied to myself.

Turning away, I sighed. This was different. This was just another experiment, nothing more. I wouldn't have to talk to or bother anyone at all. It was just going to be me hiding out in a familiar, safe place, tucked away so that the nerve-wracking world couldn't touch me, just as I was in the belly of my tower. But for this experiment, I was going to need a link, a tie to my past - and, more importantly, to the people from that past - and I could only think of one such location: the ship. That place was where I had spent almost every day of my young life, from the moment I escaped from the fearful, cavernous halls of the place called "school" until the late hour at which I would finally have to return reluctantly to my lonely, solitary castle on the hill in the northern corner of the courtyard, and to watch alone on the balcony as the snow fell on the sleepy city, and as the lights that caught the falling flakes and danced with the stars through the night flickered out one by one. That sight, witnessed by myself alone, was one I desperately longed to share, but it, like the other magical things which only I could behold, was reserved for my eyes, and my eyes alone.

But, I was getting sidetracked. Right now, I needed to focus on reaching the old, wrecked ship along the shoreline, and on carrying out my mission. With these thoughts and goals weighing heavily on my mind, I plucked up my courage and headed into the great world of unknowns that awaited me as my boots crunched over the hard, new-fallen snow, my feet carrying me quickly between the half-open metal gates and out into the empty sidewalk. The cherry blossoms I so admired fell around me, mixed with the fluttering snowflakes as they danced together on the winds, a lively jig that carried them up and down the lane, like a vast curtain drawing back to clear my path. Despite the uncertainly nagging at my heart, and the fear of who I might encounter in this unsure world, I couldn't help but smile. The world was scary, true, but it was also beautiful. That was the reason I admired the sakura trees so, and felt so sad when they were gone.

The journey was largely uneventful. Although a few people besides myself occupied the street, I managed to sidestep them and continue on to my goal uninterrupted, although I did notice many people staring at me as I passed them. It was to be expected, though. My blue hair attracted a lot of attention. That was what it was for, after all. If everyone was looking at me, I couldn't afford to be careless or afraid, nor could I help but feel inspired to be impressive. With their eyes on me - which would have caused most people to feel embarrassed rather than proud - I felt like the world itself was gazing upon me, and I wasn't going to disappoint those countless watching eyes by shying away and acting all fearful and terrified. Reasoning thus, I held my head high, stood tall, and kept on walking until I reached my destination.

The boat was just as I had remembered it, even if I hadn't seen it for several years. After my rather... unpleasant... separation with my friends as they grew disappointed in me and left one by one, I had generally avoided the place due to the painful memories it brought back. Even now, it still recalled to my mind's eye their faces, names, and voices, the many things we had done together, and, finally, the fact that they were now gone, as though the precious comrades I had devoted my heart and soul to, that I had called to myself by my heart's desire, warping the very nature of fate itself in a desperate bid to wrest the happiness I so desired from the cruel, unfeeling world... as though they had never existed, had just been a lie I had believed once but had eventually been unable to trust in any longer.

My eyes were beginning to blur - more than they usually did, that is - so I quickly ceased walking down memory lane, as it were, and brushed the newly formed tears away with the soft sleeve of my sweater, not letting them - and, by extension, my own weakness and fragility - show for an instant to the world around me, which would surely exploit this opening to cause me grief, were it noticed. No, I would have to steel myself, and make my way onto the ship, as I had done so many times before in my childhood. I knew the way, having memorized it over the countless days I had spent in this very place, which to me was like a sacred place of pilgrimage, a holy fount of light untouched by the merciless world of blacks and grays around its pure and radiant hull. It was the last thing that was sacred about my childhood, the last memory left untouched by the tears that now streaked my entire waking life. It was this glorious joy that I was looking for, these happy recollections the last thing I needed to complete the charm I hoped to weave, the magic which would protect my life from sadness.

And so, I gathered my strength, and I placed one foot in front of the other. Step by step, inch by inch, I drew closer, fighting back the tears that threatened to breach my last cheerful sanctum and plunge the whole of my life into black. Slowly, I clambered over a large root which had grown into the battered wooden hull, and, taking a deep breath, stepped inside, the pockmarked deck above me covering me like a protective blanket, shutting out the world on the outside and bathing me in the familiar warmth of a world I had once dwelt almost solely in. It was like returning to an old home, and it brought back to my mind the same sorts of memories.

BGM: Happiness of Marionette

For a moment, I simply spread my arms and slowly spun about, taking in the musty scent of the rotting wood, the quiet rustle of the wind blowing through the leaves of the tree growing on the ship's stern, the gentle lapping of the waves against the bow, as though the ship was not beached, merely in port, awaiting its captain and its old crew's return to run out the rigging, hoist the sails on the mainmast, to raise its old colors and to set out at last on its long awaited voyage into the great unknown. In an instant, the melancholy I had felt shattered like glass, the gloomy veil behind which I had viewed the world was torn asunder, and the light shone through for the first time in years. This was the last true sanctum of joy in the world. While striding through its venerable, ancient corridors, how could I feel in the least bit despairing, or sad? This was my world, even if I was alone in it, and it, unlike the dreary days outside, would be filled with nothing but life and joy! I was like the god of a new creation, taking the first steps into a new and yet ancient world! It mattered not that I was alone, for imagination and the magic of my heart would people this ship with a crew soon enough. Yes, at that moment, I believed that this ship really could sail, that I might find the elusive paradise I sought at last and live out the rest of my days in joy and bliss.

"Captain aboard!" I called with a laugh, unable to contain my joy as my own voice echoed back to me as though cried in welcome by a thousand loyal hands. I could almost hear the footsteps rushing over the deck, as the crew sprang to action, could almost see the faces of the comrades alongside which I had once crewed this vessel in my childhood fantasies. As I spun through that endless cavern without a care in the world, I indulged in that old dream, crying out orders in a joyous voice to my imaginary, phantom crew.

"Run out the rigging and hoist the mainsail!" I bellowed, the sound of my own shrill voice ringing through the dead, empty hull enough of a reply to suit my fancies. "Haul up the boarding ramp and prepare to cast off! Aye, and run up the colors, too! Today, gentlemen, we set sail, not for any Earthly port, but for lands unknown. No, our destination yet remains unseen by mortal eyes, ever a mystery, perhaps one which mankind will never uncover. But, even if that be so, I intend to find that mystical place, that land of gold and endless joy! It has been called by many names over just as many years, revered in legend of seaman and sailor just as long as it has been spoken of in the gossip of merchant and housewife back home on shore." At this point, I knew not to whom I was speaking, or even why, but I cared not, for my imaginary crew was listening on baited breath, their attention devoted solely to myself as I gave my speech, striding through the empty space below decks as I spoke, going from room to room in the vessel's cavernous belly. "Atlantis. Shangri La. El Dorado. It matters not by what name it is called, our destination remains the same. My hearties, today we set sail for glory, for riches, and for PARADISE!" My final roar echoed through the ship long after I had finished speaking, my own joyous laughter accompanying it like a reply from my invisible crew. However, before even the echoes of my ambitious speech could finish sounding through the derelict, I stepped through a doorway, and, to my surprise, found that the floor seemed to have moved slightly from how I remembered it, for my descending foot met not the firm ground it had anticipated, but soft, yielding matter which, due to being about half a foot higher than I had remembered, caused me to overbalance myself and fall face first. By the time I had overcome my initial surprise, my arms, spread to my sides as they were, could not be moved in time to catch myself, and I found my half-uttered cry of surprise muffled when my face was planted harshly against something warm and soft.

BGM: Hane

"Ow.... What happened?" I groaned to myself, slowly pushing my suddenly-aching body to a half-seated position and pushing my skirt back down, as it had been blown upward by the sudden rush of my fall. Beginning to dust myself off as I opened my eyes once again, I glanced around, trying to see what had tripped me. To my surprise, however, what met my eyes was not a gap in the floor or some tree root, as I had expected, but...

To my shock, horror, and most of all, embarrassment, I had fallen into the lap of a young boy. His leg had been extended just a little way out into the doorway from where he sat at an angle to it, and had tripped me up when I placed my foot half on it, and half on the floor, causing me to stumble and fall directly on top of him. I was light, and small of stature, and there was a rather large barrel overturned behind him, meaning he fortunately managed to stay seated when I landed on him, leaving him sitting, bewildered, exactly as he was before I had made my sudden appearance, albeit likely much more confused than he had been. I, on the other hand, was in a much more awkward position. The manner in which I had landed was comfortable, to be sure, but that was hardly the issue, as it was "awkward" in a much more different sense.

I was straddling the boy's lap, my legs splayed out on either side of his own, wrapping around his waist in a manner that was much more intimate than I'd have preferred for someone I had presumably never met. My face had been, up until my rise to a seated posture, been buried in his shoulder, nestled in the hollow made by his still-upraised arms as they encircled me due to the manner I had, quite simply, fallen into them, with my own hands constrained and thus pressed tightly up against his chest - an error I quickly amended as soon as I noticed it, raising them to cover my mouth, hopefully muting the astonished gasp of shame that exited my wide open mouth unbidden, although nothing could conceal the violent shade of red that was spreading across my face, as though I were a chameleon trying to blend in with the hue of the scarf I wore. Worse than all this, however, was the fact that we weren't even alone. Another, similar looking youth was seated across from the boy, his mouth still open as though interrupted mid-sentence - probably by my raucous entry into the ship a few rooms back. Worse yet was the knowledge that my skirt had flown up during my fall, which meant both of them had surely seen clearly that I happened to be wearing black today!

I didn't consider myself the sort of person who was easily embarrassed. Honestly, I didn't even really understand why I should be, having little experience with members of the opposite sex besides my interaction with the males in my band of friends as a child, and having equally little knowledge of the instinctive drive I was supposed to have toward getting into positions like this. But something, deep down, told me that this was wrong, that the knowledge of the position I was in, and of what these two boys had seen - not to mention heard, considering the little speech I had given when I thought I was alone in the ship - should terrify me.

And terrify me it did. Swift as a bolt of lightning, I scrambled backward as though repulsed by an external force, falling unceremoniously on my rear as I did so, and giving a quiet squeak as I moved to prevent a repeat showing of my underclothes as my skirt tried to flutter up again. Forcing it violently down, I buried my face in my hands and shut my eyes tightly, as though willing them out of existence, or myself to another place - which, in a way, I was.

"They didn't see, they can't see...!" I muttered frantically under my breath, but even I know when to quit. The stares I was getting told me, quite plainly, that I HAD been seen, that I COULD be seen. It was far too late to render myself invisible, it seemed, so I simply dropped my hands and my head in defeat, hoping hopelessly that my bangs would somehow conceal my red cheeks just as they currently overshadowed my terrified blue eyes. All I could hope now was that they went away and left me alone, something which I knew wasn't going to happen. I couldn't cope with people! Oh, I'd been such an idiot, just going and assuming that nobody else would ever come to this place, that it was my sanctum and mine alone! Why hadn't I checked? Why hadn't I looked where I was going?

But one thing was clear: I could not go back to my childhood, nor could I relive the days of my past. My sanctuary, and, by extent, my happiness, had been breached, and there was nothing now left untouched by the passage of time.

(OOC: Just so you know, the person she crash-into-hello'd (Warning, the following link leads to TV Tropes, and I will not be held responsible for hours of time wasted following it. Your life is in your own hands.) was Eden, mostly so he can lampshade how much it resembles a dating sim. =P Epic lulz shall now ensue.)

(Addendum: I got really, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLY carried away with this, didn't I?)

Setting

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Ceridwen

Time was a cruel thing, wasn’t it? Drifting ever onward, it would wash away everything from before with its pull, its irresistible flow. . . . Taking with it, anything it could, from memories to the world itself. It was a thief, this concept of Time was. Stealing everything it could, even robbing you of precious memories, recollections you could swear to never forget, things you think you remember clear as day, only to reflect on them later only to realize all you have left of them are lingering sentiments, the intensity that once inhabited those reminiscences has faded into a monochrome near-nothingness. The thieving Time took it away from you, and no matter how hard you could try, there would never be a way to reclaim what you lost. It was unkind, truly. Even if this was true though . . . no matter how overwhelming Time’s influence was, one could still fight against it some, keep the clarity of their precious memories intact for longer the more they fought for it.

And this was how she was, even if she knew that there was no getting past the fact that she would one day begin to forget some of the things she held so dear, she still was struggling each and every day to retain as much of her memories as she could. Some of them had forgotten, they’d forgotten those happy moments, the days of play, the friendship they’d once shared. And, even the ones who remembered . . . they. . . . They didn’t act on those sentiments, those emotions left within those possibly vague reminiscences, they simply let them be. Time had stolen everything from them, it’d taken memories, and the strength that had once been contained in the bond the six of them shared.

That, that just wasn’t fair.

They had only been children, when Time had begun to thief away what they all had held precious, creating the rifts between them that had grown so wide now. . . . Time went ahead and gave to only children, undeserved spitefulness.
And that, that just was horrible. It was so mean! Why pick on mere children? Why hurt those innocents when there were so many other people in the world who really deserved that spite? Now, that was something that she’d never understand. She did know enough though to understand the cruelty of Time, how very mean it was to people who didn’t deserve it, in her eyes, she’d come to deem it as a bully. Even if it was indeed a bully she could never win against, and even if it was a bandit she could never hope to stop, she was still going to do everything in her power to hold onto everything it was trying to take from her, as long as she could. She’d do her best to keep her memories with her for as long as possible, even if she was small and powerless against Time, her stubbornness was enough to stave it off for a while.

Years had passed by since the last time the six of them had truly been in each other’s presence as friends. And those years had taken much with them, and it’d changed a lot. Everyone had grown up, drifted into their own selves more. . . . Maybe Rii’s changed more than she knows too. she thought, She might like to think that she hasn’t, because she still remembers and still holds everyone so dear to her heart, but it’s still possible that Rii has indeed become someone different herself, like everyone else. Time could’ve gotten more of a hold on her as well, more than she realized. But, even if it had, the damned thief hadn’t gotten its mitts on what mattered most to her yet! Nope, Rii still remembers more than she’s forgotten . . . Time hasn’t gotten that from her.

A soft, melancholic sigh fled from the girl’s pink lips, escaping into the breeze that stirred the air around her. The day was warm . . . but that wasn’t a surprise. It was almost always this warm during the winter months, it was expected. . . . Ceridwen expected no less than this from the weather. Even still, although warm days in winter were common, they couldn’t help but make her feel just a bit nostalgic. The memories Time had not yet robbed her of often drifted to the forefront of her thoughts and interrupted everything else, stirring her from reality to lose herself in the past. The times of laughter, accidents, getting in trouble, playing around, and the smiles . . . they just filled her feelings and caused her heart to about overflow. Coraline, Marie, Eden, Alexander, and Eric. Thinking their names, the names of her five friends from childhood, a sad smile surfaced over Ceridwen’s young face. Rii might not ever be able to understand why Time had to be so mean to all of us you guys, but she’ll never stop watching over you from afar, and making sure that you’re all right.

No matter their memories of her, she’d keep lookout for the five of her dear friends . . . because no matter how wide that rift grew between them, and how much everyone changed, they were all still her dearest ones. Her friends, they would always be.

Today was one of those days again, where the nostalgia hit her. It hadn’t been just a light touch today though. Today was one of those days where it hit her fully, and completely consumed her. Of course, that nostalgia and the warm air was why she was where she was now. . . . After bidding goodbye to her father that morning, heading out for the day, she’d lost herself to her musings and just idly wandered throughout Dianc Blodau, until of course, she’d somehow wound up finding herself in a place all too familiar. The old ship. Somehow in her nostalgia, her body had led her to the one place which held more memories for her than anywhere else. Of course, she still visited the place from time to time, slipping into the slowly decaying ship to allow the nostalgia of childhood to overcome her again, as it made her remember the times in her life where she’d been ill, but had still be brought along on the grand adventures that were to be had by everyone. . . . Even though she’d been sickly, weak, and unable to do much more than sit around when she’d first became friends with everyone, they had still brought her along. Never abandoned her, and they were always so kind. . . .

It’d been probably over an hour since she had wandered back on board the old thing, living out her many memories as she just walked around it, before eventually settling herself down. Even if it had taken effort, she’d gone ahead and shimmied her way up the old, rotting mast of the ship and onto the horizontal wooden beam that extended out from its middle that was meant to house the ship’s main sail. The middle of the ship had nearly been overtaken by a tree, which was growing from within it . . . the main mast had been left looking as a part of it. Branches and leaves spread far and wide from the nearby tree, enshrouding most of the beam which Ceridwen now sat on, hiding her from the whole world. And, it was there she sat, gazing out at the sea on the ship of her reminiscence.

The warm sea air filtered through her clothing, and made her comfortable, at ease. . . . She’d dressed appropriately for the weather, a green tee shirt overlain by a white button up blouse that remained unbuttoned, a pair of denim shorts overtop a pair of black leggings, and a set of rather . . . interesting rubber rain boots the color green, which bore upon them frog patterns. Of course, she kept her hair in its normal braid.

But, it was from where she sat that Ceridwen was able to witness the happenings below; the arrival of Eden and Eric, and where she could hear the speech given by Marie from somewhere else upon the ship, before the girl managed to literally land right in the lap of the older of the two brothers. All of it was enough to have garnered a pleasant smile from her, even if everyone was acting silly, or didn’t even remember the times they shared together on the ship . . . getting to see even three of her friends together was a happy callback to from before Time had robbed them all. It gave her some hope even . . . hope for what though? Rii already knows that things can never be the same as they were before, but maybe she hopes that, that maybe something will bring us all together again. . . .

Maybe she hopes that they can somehow win against Time. A sharp sigh left her at that, as she turned her head skyward, looking away from the scene below. They didn’t need to know she was there, looking over them, they never needed to know that much. Sure, there were moments where she still spoke to everyone, but those moments were never . . . never anything more than shallow events. The conversations were mundane, and about general topics for the most part. And even still, the only person of the groups she really did exchange any sort of pleasantries with was Eric. Like everyone else really, he didn’t seem to remember much from before, but . . . at least he and she did still speak some.

How much he actually remembered of her, she didn’t know, but he seemed to remember enough to be nice to her. . . . But even if he did remember her, Ceridwen figured that he, nor Eden, nor Marie needed to know that she was there now, watching them. She was better off just waiting it out, letting them go about their business, and leaving before she left herself. That was the best thing she could do.

Quietly, the girl allowed her body to loll to the side, her shoulder hitting against the ship’s mast for support, and she expected things to stay quiet for her. But, as Time had shown to her in the last years, things often did not go as expected. It was probably after about fifteen seconds of her sitting like this . . . there was a noise. A groan, a cracking sound, coming from right underneath her. Ceridwen stayed still for the most part as she heard that, a look of trepidation forming over her face. And so, it turned to happen, the beam of wood under her rump let out another groan, as the cracking sound came about again, only louder this time, more violent as the wood could be heard splintering. You’ve got to be kidding Rii, the beam really isn’t going to break because she’s sitting on it! Rii’s only seventy-five pounds! she thought, beginning to panic.

But, it happened, to her regret and shock, the beam in which Ceridwen sat upon broke off from the mast which supported it right underneath her. The old rotting wood, turned and tumbled downward, piercing through the deck below with a crash. And Ceridwen fell right after, yelping as she headed right for the same fate it seemed. And it was only at the last second that she managed to turn herself around in midair, heart racing in her chest as her head felt light. Heights weren’t her favorite thing in the world for this particular reason, but sitting where she had been seemed like a good idea at the time. . . . By some miracle, the little-ninja managed to land upon the old deck of the ship unharmed, and on her feet too . . . albeit she was actually in a crouched position upon landing, sitting like a frog rather than a person.

It was in that position that Ceridwen stayed, head turned downward as her arms and hands were in-between her legs, fingers pressed into the surface below her, as her legs were awkward, her toes supported her as her legs bent at her knees, allowing for her hands and arms to be where they were. With her heart still racing, head still light from the fall, a deep breath escaped from her lungs before she remembered . . . that she had not intended on exposing herself to the three, to Eden, Eric and Marie. Suffice to say, Rii’s cover has been very, very much blown. That had to have been the loudest possible way for her presence to be announced to everyone too, that beam was so loud!

Of course, the fallen beam still stuck out of the ship behind her, the part that had separated and splintered off of the main mast was sticking up for the world to see. Although, given what that thing could’ve done to everyone, Rii’s probably lucky that it decided to fall away from them instead of the other option. . . . It was at this that Rii poked her head upward, lavender eyes wide as she looked between her three friends from the past, a seemingly oblivious look upon her face. She . . . wasn’t quite sure what to say to them. So, she allowed a smile to form over her face, a wild and silly one at that, before she quickly stood to her feet and scratched the back of her head. “Umm, Rii guesses that beam was much more rotten than it looked if it couldn’t even hold her measly weight!” she laughed, not knowing what would happen next . . . especially considering the rift placed between them all by Time. She could only hope for the best.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Eden & Eric


- Hello/How are you - 8Bit -

"Captain aboard!" The two boys watched this girl, no, this captain, board the ship. Eric, for one thing, was bewildered. Eden, however, was amazed. Amazed by the courage, the power and sureness in her voice. He never really heard so much confidence in one person. Even his brother tended to have an edge of doubt when he said something, but this girl. . . Well, she thought she was alone, that was for sure. Eric looked to his side, looked at his brother, and grinned. So easily impressed, the poor thing. he thought jokingly, before turning back to the girl. "Run out the rigging and hoist the mainsail!"

"Like a child. . . ." Eric heard Eden say quietly, his eyes wondering. Eden just stared on ahead, looking at the girl with an almost mystical look in his eyes. The younger sibling was quite easily baffled, not understanding why the hell his brother was acting like, well, like he had emotions. The one thing which Eric was sure Eden took pride on was the fact that he didn't let his emotions show. However, as Eric never let him know, his eyes told a hidden story from his face. Then again, his face was generally just confused. He looked exactly the same now. If anyone here is like a child, it's you! he thought sarcastically, glancing at his older brother and then his EntEr, paused in his hands like a stopped hourglass.

"Haul up the boarding ramp and prepare to cast off! Aye, and run up the colors, too! Today, gentlemen, we set sail, not for any Earthly port, but for lands unknown. No, our destination yet remains unseen by mortal eyes, ever a mystery, perhaps one which mankind will never uncover. But, even if that be so, I intend to find that mystical place, that land of gold and endless joy! It has been called by many names over just as many years, revered in legend of seaman and sailor just as long as it has been spoken of in the gossip of merchant and housewife back home on shore." Eric raised a wary eyebrow but Eden continued to stare at the girl without another word. She seemed familiar, known. And she was acting like a. . . . "Atlantis. Shangri La. El Dorado. It matters not by what name it is called, our destination remains the same. My hearties, today we set sail for glory, for riches, and for PARADISE!" The youngest's eyes followed the girl carefully, yet he failed to do a thing when the girl tumbled into his brother. Actually, the only thing he did was hiss at the girl angrily.

"Ah."

The eldest, now looking slightly amused, glanced at the girl nuzzled into his neck and then looked at the deck, paying her no mind.. What a perfect entrance for the main character of a dating sim. . . This is exactly how Kanna entered in Zevakid! Speaking of my EntEr where did it. . . . Eden looked to his side only to see a petrified brother who was looking at him intently, as if he'd just killed someone. His eyes then glided to the floor, seeing a mess of broken glass, a memory card and other various hardware lying there. It took a while for him to actually process what happened, but when he did, his eyes widened in shock.

- Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku -

Eric looked from the decapitated EntEr lying on the floor to his brother. The girl had leapt off him and the younger boy's eyes flicked from the girl to his brother. He was more concerned about Eden, whose whole face showed total emotional pain. His brother's entire body shook as his hand reached out slowly to pick up a piece. The words 'EntEr thE ultimatE rEalm' were on the back of this rather large piece and Eric saw his older brother gradually go an unhealthy pale as he held the device's shattered remains in his cupped hands. Eric looked at the girl, who was also freaking out about something, but. . . . Well, Eric had no idea what as he kept his eyes on the girl yet put his arms around his trembling, speechless brother. The two of them turned to look at the girl. Generally, their position was less than normal; Eden was down on his knees, sitting back on his feet with pieces on his EntEr in his hands. His head was pressed against his brothers chest and silent words left his mouth. Eric had Eden enveloped, almost out of view, even, as he shushed his brother into silence. "It's okay you have another one at home." he said quietly.

"L-limited. . . . ." Eden choked out. "It was. . ." Blank. Nothing. The shaking was gone and Eric had to pull away to check his drama-queen-of-a-brother was still alive, or, even better, conscious. Yep, he was still there, but he'd basically turned into a mush-like human being. Eric started to get up, and when he stood, his brother, limp like a fish, lay on the ground without moving a muscle. Eric raised an eyebrow before turning to look at this girl properly.

Or rather, the giant thud coming from behind her. Eric slid to the left quickly, not seeing anything yet, and picked Eden up like a small child. Eden sat on his back like a dead weight, before apparently gaining somewhat control of himself and began pouting, his eyes slightly- erm, shiny. He put his head on Eric's shoulder and Eric ran over to the girl he thought it was. "Ceridwen!" he said with a giant grin on his face, before looking at the beam of wood behind her. "Rii? Are you, well, okay?" The boy continued quietly.

“Umm, Rii guesses that beam was much more rotten than it looked if it couldn’t even hold her measly weight!” The girl laughed, scratching the back of her head.

"Haha, I guess!" The boy shifted his brother and turned back to look at him, before frowning. "How come you have no hair on your legs?" Eric's voice was laced with childlike curiosity.

"It just doesn't grow." was the reply, a shaky voice trying to tone out the feelings.

The younger brother frowned. "That's abnormal. When you sit on my back, your shorts go even higher up your legs!" Eric laughed and Eden smiled sadly. Well, he's on the road to recovery! Thought the poor younger sibling. Dealing with a temperamental, overemotional and effeminate older brother could be remarkably time-wasting and usually burns a lot of energy. In fact, when the two refer to each other as brothers, Eric's name is the Mother-Brother and Eden is the Bother-Brother.

"So." Eric started, feeling his brother whimper slightly. "Why are you two here?"

Eden finally smiled properly, though he looked half-asleep. "We used to play here, I think. Me and. . . some children. And you, brother. It's fuzzy though. Everything's fuzzy nowadays." Eric looked at his brother, wide eyed. Hey, fuzzy? Eric thought, about to open his mouth when he heard a tired shush. "Why are we all here today though? I wonder. . . ." Just as he said that, the impossible happened. A bright light flashed and both the boys snapped their eyes shut, only to open them with a bright sunset laid out in front of them. The oldest brother jumped off the back by which he was being carried and ran to the side of the ship, seeing something unimaginable.

- Test Drive -

Water.

Eden's eyes widened and he jumped up onto the banister with nothing but the horizon in view. Eric ran behind him and tried to pull him down, but Eden stayed there, gazing at the ocean. Looking back at the ship, it still had a gigantic tree growing on it. The cool wind blew the young teen's hair up, but he quickly covered his eye with his hand, a small frown on his face. The wind was blowing from literally all directions, a strong breeze. Eden felt the direction of the wind change as he leant over the edge a little. It tried to blow him back. This is crazy. . . . No, this is a game. One big game. he thought, glancing at Eric who was watching him warily. Jump. he told himself, before shaking his head angrily. Jump! This is a game! Are you scared you don't have an extra life. . . ? and taking a deep breath, he leapt into the air, falling down. Eric ran to the edge of the ship, only to see Eden floating about, laughing. Okay, so it seems jumping off the ship rendered you into a zero-gravity state, probably at least until you hit ground. But there was no. . . . land.

Wait. Eric looked relieved, but Eden looked out at the distance. He saw a disturbance in the water and he leapt back up onto the ship. Storm clouds reeled in and the boy ran around the ship, checking everything which could still be used. Well, not much, really. It seems like the wheel still worked, as the ship tipped when he spun it quickly. Eric stared at his brother, running around the ship energetically. He even skipped the stairs and leapt down instead, all the while biting his right nail and using his left hand to keep his hair down as the rain hit the ship heavily, the pitter-patter turning into loud noises and thunder cracked through the skies. When Eric actually saw his brother's face, he saw a childish grin he hadn't seen in Uwchben-knows-how-long! With a small smile, he turned to Rii. "Well, at least one of us has some energy."

The mother-brother looked at his older sibling, jumping around everywhere and checking the everything on the ship. "What are you doing?" Eric yelled at his brother, balanced on the wheel of the ship and scanning every single nook and cranny he could see.

"Checking stats. Do something. For Uwchben's sake, I can't do everything. Eric, go do something clever. Ceridwen or Rii or whatever, and blue haired girl, you should too-" Wait. Why do I remember playing a game like this before? Not a video game, but a normal, make-believe game. . . Eden's face became ridden with confusion. I don't remember. I don't. . . understand. What is the significance of this? It must be some crazy dream. If it's a dream, I can do what I want, right? He jumped down, staring at the deck. He failed to notice his brother beaming at him first, but when he did, he even let go of his hair and stopped biting his nail in slight shock, making his paler, nearing white, brown eye show. Eric went silent at the slight and looked at his brother guiltily, but Eden raised a questioning eyebrow. " . . . Well, get to it! The cabins are safe, there's six different ones, as far as I've noticed. Also-" his voice was cut off by the sound of loud waves. When he looked at the ocean, he saw small islands rising out of the water. There were hundreds as the last flicked of sunlight grazed the sea's surface softly, night coming along quicker than usual. As he placed his hand on the railing of the ship, he looked at the odd blue-haired girl from earlier.. "You'd make a pretty good captain in an action game, like Gemnater, or something." he said nonchalantly, before leaning on the banister and staring out, the worst of the storm still going on as he stared out into the distance, even blanking out.

"Eden?" Eric said, going next to his brother. "Eden! Damn." The boy looked at the two girls and smiled awkwardly. "Well, we've lost him. He does this sometimes; just blanks out completely. Just leave him for a couple of minutes. If you need him, just slap him across the face a couple of times, but don't be too violent, cause he'll just get petrified and run away or something. Okay? We should get on land." Eric pressed on his brother's head, pushing down so he was sitting on the floor like an empty puppet, but his eyes were sparkling, like he was thinking of unimaginable things.

Lost!

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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(Triple post?)

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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(But. . . How?!)

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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BGM: Hope

Silence filled the air, moreso even than the dust kicked up by my sudden fall and the smell of mold that permeated the rotting boards of the derelict. It was not like the majestic silence of solitude, that liberating sign of solace that embraced me to the very core and allowed me to let loose with my feelings and dreams without fear of doing something wrong in the eyes of those around me. Rather, it was the awkward silence of shame, when all is still following some stupid mistake or terrible accident. This silence, more than anything else, told me exactly how much of a blunder I had just made. Waltzing into this ship, assuming it was my own and that I wouldn't bother anyone, not even looking around me as I got lost in my own little world... such a careless action could only end in such a mistake as falling gracelessly on top of a random, unsuspecting person, could it not?

At first, I assumed that the only damage that had been done was to my dignity. But, as I looked more closely, I observed with horror the boy's crestfallen demeanor, and how his fellow tried to console him as he gazed blankly down at the wrecked, broken shell of what had once been a handheld gaming system - an EntEr to be exact. I hadn't ever owned anything of the sort, as my family deemed it much too expensive to waste on one such as myself - it wasn't that they didn't have the money, rather that I did not deserve the reward. But, even if I had never possessed a gaming system like this, I had seen them in plenty of shops, and thus knew exactly how expensive one of them was. That system had probably cost him countless months of work and hard-earned saving to buy, and I had just gone and broken it like the fool I was. I knew immediately that I would have to make up for my error, somehow, as his loss was entirely my fault. And, technologically illiterate as I was, I also knew immediately that this wasn't something you could just fix, save by magic, but I didn't have the knowledge of such a device necessary to attempt repairing it, even miraculously - not to mention the incredible amount of preparation and materials a spell like that would require, and the fact that I would have to invent it from scratch before I could use it - which made even pondering such an effort useless.

You might wonder why I considered "magic" as a viable option. Surely, in our day and age, magic had been entirely disproved, had it not? Why would I, a thoroughly modern Human, even dream of using such an ill-defined and fictitious tool as "magic" to attempt a mundane - if impossible - task? But, despite people's sad conception of the noble arts as nonexistent and impotent, there were still people who adhered to them - myself included. I believed just as wholeheartedly in the force of magic as I did in the force of gravity - moreso, perhaps, as I faintly recalled using magic to violate that law at least once in times past, although admittedly that might have just been a dream. Yes, it doubtless seemed absurd to most people that I would believe in something I could not prove. But, on the other hand, proving magic to be real, and to be alive within me, was the goal for which I strove.

So, if I could not repair the device, then perhaps I could offer to replace it? That would be infinitely simpler, and, I realized, much more believable than offering to fix his clearly destroyed EntEr in a manner he would likely not believe. And, although items such as that system were expensive, I was confident in my ability to pay for a replacement. Even if the allowance I got was pathetic at best and nonexistent at worst, I still was given money by my parents each day before I went to school, under the unspoken assumption that it would be used to buy me dinner on the way home, although this was not the case. Although it meant going hungry overnight, it also meant I didn't have to face the fears of actually going and ordering something. I was always so indecisive - being a lover of many types of food, I could never make up my mind which I wanted most - that the people in line behind me got impatient, and the people behind the cash register grew confused and frustrated as I ordered one thing, then another, then changed and altered my choice with every passing instant. I almost always grew so flustered and embarrassed by the countless angry eyes boring into me from all sides that I simply gave up and ran away, defeated. But, there were advantages to not ever eating more than two meals a day - or, more often, simply having brunch and calling that my daily meal - and this was definitely one of them. I was used to not getting as much to eat as I wanted, having been denied breakfast and dinner at home on plenty of occasions even before the "food issue" came into question, so skipping dinner was never that much for a problem for me, and the lure of saving money for some undefined future occasion was really too much to pass up. Although some of it went to funding my various experimental - read: woefully ineffective - spellcastings - namely, for buying those materials I couldn't get out of the junk shed at home - the rest of it had been kept dutifully, day by day, month by month, and, eventually, year by year. Seven arioni a day, if saved and unspent, added up over a long time. At this point, I didn't doubt I had enough money to fund a replacement.

But, on the other hand, there was the small problem of offering to buy a replacement. Even if I knew it was the right thing to do, simply saying "Oh, sorry about your game, want me to buy you a new one?" would not only come off as incredibly insincere, but also arrogant and generally rude. On the other hand, just staying silent at first and trying to bring up the subject of replacing it at a better time would make it seem like I didn't want to acknowledge that I was at fault, as well as making me seem proud and unrepentant when it was clearly my own clumsiness and lack of attention that had caused the whole mess in the first place. And thus the worrying began, which made me realize that I had a much greater problem than not knowing what to do: my own fear of not knowing what to do. This situation, interacting with other people even on the most basic level... it was something I couldn't cope with. I became terrified the moment I had to make a choice, and my lack of faith in my own decisions drove me to instead abandon the choice altogether - to run away, instead of facing the issue at hand. But right now, that wasn't even an option. I had broken something precious to someone, and now, if I did not replace it, it would be just like stealing from him - worse, even, for although he still possessed the EntEr, it could never be used again. No, in this situation, I could not simply escape. The guilt on my conscience outweighed my terror, and kept me tethered to the spot, unable to simply flee without somehow making up for the damage and grief I had caused. And so, forced as I was, I did something that terrified me: I made a choice. I didn't know whether or not it was the right choice, or whether my fears had been either unfounded or realized. I simply did what seemed appropriate, and hoped against hope that things would somehow turn out alright.

"A-ah..." I stammered, trying as hard as I could to force out the words I wanted to say before it was too late - or rather, before I got too frightened to say them. "I'm s-sorry!" The sudden exclamation, which came out much louder than I intended it to, cowed me into momentary silence as I dropped my head, my pale hair reaching down and covering my eyes as I wished that I could simply sink into the ground. So many humiliating accidents, all piled one on top of the other, had taken away what little courage I had garnered from being in a familiar and treasured place, and I found my voice faint and shrill, a meek, frightened squeak almost drowned out by a whirlwind of worries that tried their hardest to shout it down. But, what was important was that it was still there. I had finally managed to speak up, and now that I had been forced into starting something, I had no choice but to finish it.

"That is to say... Er, I mean..." I mumbled weakly. Mustering all of my resolve - a total which, while it sounded impressive, was in reality almost nonexistent - I spoke up, trying to express how I felt while those very feelings I was supposed to be putting into words constantly changed, altering my selected script of apology in the very instants I tried to spit it out. One by one, these feelings danced though my mind - repentance, then, fear and insecurity, then guilt, then panic, leading to a desperate, last-ditch attempt to say what I intended to before I was frightened into simply shutting up so the world didn't have to hear my noisome voice - leaving me baffled and, moreover, afraid. "I didn't see you two here, and... well, I didn't noticed until I tripped over you, and... I mean, if I knew you were there and holding something, I'd have fallen on my own face and saved you the trouble... Er, that is, because I'm so clueless, I've gone and broken something important. I'm really sorry... er... would it be alright if I bought you a new one?" At last, I said it, and the realization that I had frightened me almost as much as the fear that I would not. After all, what if everything I had thought was the right answer was all completely wrong? What if all of those feelings I had tried to express were only a burden to the ones at whom they were directed? This dread might have been enough to convince me that my initial decision not to run away had been foolish and incorrect, and that I should simply escape while I could, were it not for a sudden occurrence that so startled me that I nearly had a heart attack.

With a loud crash and a groaning of wood, a Human figure dropped out of the sky - the wooden perch that it had rested upon evidently having broken asunder beneath it - and landed securely on the deck right behind me, causing me to give a cry of fright as I tried and failed to at once spin around and to scramble back to my feet from where I sat, the end result of which was me slipping in my panicked and confused rush to get away and falling over backward, knocking my head rather painfully against the railing behind me. For a moment I saw stars, and might have simply fainted from my bewilderment and fright - not to mention my skull-shaking head injury - were it not for one thing that so shocked me that all of my faculties returned to me near instantly, and all of my attention was immediately drawn upon the figure that had just landed next to me.

Her hair was long, done up in a single tail - presumably to keep it out of her eyes - and a shimmering, silvery white in hue. This was clearly its natural color, contrasting quite noticeably with my own blueish hair, the color of which came from bleach rather than any bodily pigment. Her body was thin and small - she was shorter and more childish-looking than even myself, which was quite a feat, considering my own rather immature appearance. Her eyes were bright, and she was smiling in a rather comical manner. None of these things really mattered to me, though. What mattered was that the instant I saw her, I knew her, and why she was here, on this old, wrecked ship which nobody ever bothered to explore. My suspicions were only confirmed when she spoke, referring to herself in the old manner I knew so well.

“Umm, Rii guesses that beam was much more rotten than it looked if it couldn’t even hold her measly weight!”

BGM: Separation

I was stunned. How was it possible? Long ago, I had once called this ship a second home, had lived every hour of every single day on its decks, rushing here and there alongside my companions and playmates as we carried out our lives in our own little world upon this derelict, broken wreck. We set sail for countless lands of our own creation, fought in a thousand different wars and thrice that many battles with invisible enemies who were trying to take our vessel from us. We had lived in carefree, absolute joy, and loved one another like brothers and sisters. That time, even though it seemed to have been an eternity ago, still burned vibrantly in my memories, known to me as the one time in my life I had ever truly been accepted and loved as a person rather than a burdensome object. Those children with whom I used to play had believed in my magic, and had, in a way, given me a sample of their own in the form of the fantasies we reveled in together. That magic - the time which we had shared - was more powerful than any spell I could imagine, any experiment I could carry out. It was to retrieve some of that magic that I had returned to this place, and, to my astonishment, I found myself recovering it in a manner I had never even dreamed of.

Ceridwen - I could still remember her name quite clearly - gave a hearty laugh, which prompted me to quickly jump to my feet, an expression of shock on my face. I couldn't believe it! I simply couldn't believe it! One of the friends I had thought was lost forever was now standing before me, not some illusion, or dream, or ghost, or phantom, but very real. I almost cried out her name on instinct, all of my fear and shame washed away by her sudden, unexpected appearance, but at that moment, that another realization struck me dumb, as the two boys upon whom I had unceremoniously fallen rushed over to the newly landed girl and revealed, to my amazement, that they knew her as well.

I could no longer hear what they were saying, as their words were drowned out by the sound of my rapidly beating heart, a sound which grew louder and louder until it drowned out all other noise around me. Speech, the wind, and the roaring of the waves... all was lost to my comprehension, as my mind was now entirely occupied by the realizations which struck it in quick succession, like darts striking a board in a particularly heated game.

The boys knew Ceridwen.

The boys knew the ship.

The boys had played on the ship before.

The boys had played here with Ceridwen.

I had played here, with Ceridwen, and with several boys.

The boys were familiar.

The boys looked like two brothers I had played with.

The boys were two more of my long lost friends, gathered by some incomprehensible contortion of fate that had drawn us all together!


It was simply unbelievable. By what warping of destiny, by what twist of fate, by what mockery of chance, by what magic had we all been gathered here in the same minute of the same hour of the same day? How had we come to meet yet again, in this old place of meetings, even after it had been abandoned by us for so long? It seemed impossible, and yet, I realized, impossible things happened every day. This was the good fortune that Humans call blessings. This was the joyous second chance that people knew as miracles. This... was Magic.

BGM: ALIVE

As these thoughts flooded my brain, however, something more astounding than even this magical encounter occurred. For in that instant, as though beckoned by my wayward thoughts, the sky changed suddenly, the midday sun suddenly falling to the edge of the horizon as though setting late in the evening. The sounds of the bustling city which had until now wafted ever-so-faintly to my ears were gone, replaced by the wind sweeping over an open sea and the lapping of tiny waves against our vessel's hull as it cut through the water like a blade. My legs rushed me over to the side of the ship before I so much as finished deciphering what this knowledge meant, and my eyes confirmed the suspicions that my ears could not.

We were sailing, adrift in a vast, unbroken ocean, the surface of which we could not touch - as proved when the boy I now recognized as Eden leaped over the side and began to hover about in thin air. In an instant, as though carried by my realization of the magic that had come to pass, we had been whisked away to what seemed to be another world where what Humans believed as real and unchanging was suddenly overturned. Had I done this? No, this was impossible. To carry out such a feat, I would need preparation and materials, not just a memory and a solitary thought. There was a much greater magic at work here... was it the magic of friendship I had woven so long ago? That, I could not determine. But, on the other hand, this was unshakable proof that magic existed. At this assurance, I couldn't help but feel a little joy and triumph build up inside me. Even if the only people who saw it were us four, magic existed, and I now knew that to be fact.

But again my thoughts were disrupted, as with a distant howl, storm clouds formed quite suddenly and began to blow towards us, obscuring the last rays of the fading sun and plunging us into an early night. As rain began to fall quite suddenly upon us, Eden seemed to revive from the stupor I had inadvertently plunged him into by breaking his EntEr, and began to rush about, giving out orders to all of us as he searched - for what, I could not be sure, although I guessed that he was probably trying to see what on our rather out-of-date, not to mention rotted, vessel still worked. I listened eagerly to whatever commands he might give me, longing to relive in reality the dreams we had lived in fantasy so long ago. The warmth of joy began to fill me to the core, and for the first time in a long, long time, I smiled earnestly.

The command I received, however, was one that filled my heart with the icy coldness of despair, wiping away in an instant all of the hopes and joys I had held in that single moment. Quite simply, both myself, and the memories I held dear, were crushed.

BGM: The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku (Piano)

"Checking stats. Do something. For Uwchben's sake, I can't do everything. Eric, go do something clever. Ceridwen or Rii or whatever, and blue haired girl, you should too!"

Blue-haired girl?

Wait... did Eden mean me? But why wasn't he calling me by my name? I was right here, just like I always had been back then, ready to follow my orders and do my duty to save our ship. So... why?

"Marie."

My name... Why didn't he use my name?! Could it be that he was poking fun at my new hair color? But the Eden I knew would never do that. Strange as he always had been, he would have simply stated "Your hair is blue" rather than referring to me so impersonally. He would have recognized me immediately... wouldn't he have?

"Marie!"

He had always called me by my name back then. They all had known it and used it freely. There had never been any problem with calling me by my name, so why would he not call me by it now?

"Marie!"

It couldn't have been... He couldn't have... He just couldn't have...! He couldn't have forgotten me... could he?

"Marie!"

But he had. When I looked into his face as he passed over me like I was a non-person, I realized, to my horror, that there was no recognition in his once-friendly gaze. Eric, too, was simply ignoring me, chattering amicably with Ceridwen as though I did not exist... as though I had never existed. None of them... None of them knew who I was! It couldn't have been true, but yet... but yet...

I had disappeared in the truest sense of the word. Even though I still breathed air, still ate food, still drank water, still was alive... Despite the fact that I existed, I did not exist. There was not a single soul in the world in whose eyes I was a person. All those who I had called friends, all of those I had drawn to myself with the power of my magic... Everyone I had cared about had forgotten me completely, and no longer cared about me. To them, I was just another being... another thing that didn't matter.

Just another worthless object. It was as everyone had always said. The moment I was gone, nobody would remember me. Not my accomplishments, certainly not. Not my face, nor my appearance, nor my voice... nor my name.

"MARIE!"

I wanted to shout it out, wanted to stop breathing, wanted them to know I existed, wanted to stop existing... I wanted all of these things, but I knew that, in the end, nothing I wanted would ever come to pass, because what I wanted above all else had been to be with my friends again, to be acknowledged once more as a Human being... But even in their eyes, I was no longer a person. In their hearts... I didn't even have a name.

Somewhere on the edge of my comprehension, I realized that some of the water on my face wasn't rain, and that tears were beginning to streak down my face, mixed among the raindrops so as to be indistinguishable from them. I didn't care. Even if the others could have seen my tears, they had forgotten about me, so why would they care if I was crying? I didn't exist, so the fact that I was crying made no difference. Similarly, I was vaguely aware of the fact that someone had said something in my general direction, and of the fact that I was being spoken to, but I didn't notice beyond a basic comprehension of what was being said. I simply stood there, battered by the wind and the rain falling around me, my gaze resting dejectedly on the ground below and my hair hanging down over my eyes as I silently cried, my tears dropping invisibly - just as I, too, was, in a sense, invisible, even in plain sight - amongst the droplets of rain that ran freely across my features. I did not move, not even so much as to quiver with suppressed grief, nor did I make a sound. But it didn't matter. Inside, I was weeping without restrain, my heart wracked with the pangs of sorrow that my body would not show, and screaming with

They had forgotten me. Even in a world populated by millions of Human beings, I was still absolutely, completely, and permanently alone. I was nothing special - just another nameless, voiceless, featureless face in the crowd - and nobody cared enough about me to realize that I existed. And worst of all, I couldn't say that it wasn't my fault. Clearly I, Marie, was such a useless, burdensome being, that it would be better for everyone if I did not exist.

Well, fine, then. If they didn't want Marie to exist, then Marie would never exist again, save in the memories of the one person who remembered her: myself. I would hold onto those precious memories, but I would also leave them behind. There was nowhere to go back to, anymore. My last sanctuary of happiness, the last things I held sacred... these things had been ruthlessly trampled upon. I couldn't be Marie the child any longer, so I would be someone different, then. Even I didn't know what I would become, or how this meeting would end, but I knew one thing.

I, Marie, was not a Human being. I, Marie, did not exist. But I was alive, and I would live until I could exist again. I would become something that nobody could or would forget.

I would become someone who deserved to be called by name.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Eden & Eric
But mostly Eden this time.


Eden gasped, feeling a foot in the stomach. How he knew it was a foot, he wasn't altogether that sure. Maybe his mind had subliminally taken in the image of his brother nearing him with and playful look on his face, maybe he'd predicted something of he sort had happened; maybe he was actually a fish and this was one big dream. Okay, so the latter was slightly less realistic than the other two assumptions, but it still remained a liable reason as to why he knew there was a foot in his stomach, not a fish, or a trampoline, even. The boy looked up to his brother with a slight hint of fear in his eyes and he was replied to with an even greater fearful look. "Am I . . ." he started, his eyes glancing at his hands. ". . . actually a fish?" Eric grabbed the boy and embraced him in a quick hug, smiled gleefully.

"I thought you were going to have a moment it I hit you!" The younger brother laughed breezily. "Anyways, we need help with the ship. I don't have any idea how to pioneer one, but you do, right?"

Eden sighed. "If playing a game with over a hundred game hours about pirates and completing it in less than two counts, yes." The boy mentioned quietly, looking to his side and seeing the blonde Ceridwen. As he stared at her, not exactly hiding the fact that he wasn't taking his eyes off her, he began to recognise her more and more. But no, he wasn't allowing his mind to go anywhere near that restricted area, bound and sealed with tight ropes. The ropes were beginning to get frayed, however.

~ Pandora Hearts - Will ~

His eyes glanced to his other side and he saw the blue haired girl, standing there. She wasn't really doing much else, apart from staying upright. No. . . The water falling from her face wasn't precipitation of any kind, as far as anyone was concerned, those were full-on tears. Maybe she felt homesick or something, Eden could not tell. His body moved on its own, as if possessed, and he didn't even notice the set of eyes on him, namely, Eric's eyes. He didn't pay much attention to the fact it had started to hail, or that thunderbolts were shooting down from the sky like lost stars. What he did notice was that this girl was crying, she was unhappy, but there wasn't any obvious reason as to why. His hand reached towards her face slowly, so she could slap him away if she wanted. "Your eyes are raining." The brother stated with a confused frown, his eyes questioning. In that split second, he'd reached up to the corner of her lips and pulled upwards, creating a fake grin. He didn't care if it was fake.

"Your smile broke." he said gently, answering the unspoken question of why. "I'm fixing it. . . Of course." Despite having wiped away some tears, he couldn't tell the difference between them and the rain, so he casually carried on quietly, ignoring any stares, whether they were from his brother or from the girl in front of him. He didn't really look at her face, his eyes were fixed on the sky. The next question he had to ask was necessary, carefully thought out. He never imagined it could have any effect on this girl. He'd thought that because he knew Rii, and he obviously knew Eric, that maybe they were all acquaintances, at the very least. With a sigh, the boy posed his question. "Do I. . . . know you-"

Then, a shock ran through his mind like wildfire. His hand retracted as quick as he could possibly take it, pulling his hand close to his soaked body. The boy's hair stayed down as he looked at the girl with a petrified look in his eyes, or rather, his visible eyes. His hand found themselves on his eye, the right one, backing away from the girl slowly. He remembered something exactly like this before, in the past. It was just before everything started going wrong. It was before he got that wretched stepmother, before Eric got ill, before he was sent to that other city where he worked day and night, getting a maximum of an hour of sleep a day. He didn't want to remember that time. It was too happy, too naive; it could kill his barrier in a spilt second. "Ah, I don't want to remember. . . . "

That simple thought brought fear to his whole body.

The boy tripped over backwards; one of the broken and bashed boards on the floor was sticking up at an odd angle. Eden was instantly on the floor, grabbing his hair gently. "Hey, don't let your smile break! Tell you what, I'll fix it every time, okay? Ma-"

In his memory, he saw a small, brown haired girl with tears streaming down her lonesome face. He remembered he was on the ship, his brother had gone home and so had all the other children, so he'd stayed behind to look at the sunset. Then he remembered that girl, crying, and he remembered telling her those words.

"Don't let your smile break!"

"Shut up." he told himself meekly, his voice barely audible even to himself. He heard heavy footsteps running, coming near him. The boy just buried his face into his knees quietly, feeling a hand on his back. "No!" he yelled, his head shooting up to see Eric standing there, bewildered. In a second, he was up on his feet, punching his brother with weak hits while practically chanting the word 'no'.

"I'll fix it every time, okay?

Eric took his brothers hands, ultimately stopping himself from getting punched, and looked his brother in the eyes. "It's just me." he said simply, and Eden looked at him before glancing over at the blue-haired girl. She reminded him of someone, but as to whom he was not certain. He groaned, his left hand pulling his hair up and on top of his head, tired.

"I don't want to remember." Eden told his brother and Eric nodded, glancing at the wheel.

"It's okay, you don't have to. You don't have to remember anything."

Memories, sealed away in a locked chest, were starting to get reckless. The torn rope helping to keep the chest under control was at it's limit; the bolt was long rusted. Any seal which the boy had voluntarily put on when he went to live with his brother (and dog) and put all his memories in a far corner of his mind were becoming useless and the small thought made him shiver. The seas had began becoming restless and Eden sighed. "The sea really has no mercy." he said, going up the stairs carefully. The intense cold from the rain made him sneeze cutely, almost falling back down the stairs. When he turned around and saw his brother laughing at him while trying to both hide it and find something to cover himself and the girls with, he hissed, curling his fingers so that they resembled the claws of a cat.

I don't want all this to happen. he mused. I don't mind being in a real life video game, but if Eric gets hurt. . . . Come to think of it, where's Xander? Eden glanced around, seeing nothing but ship, ship and more ship. "Xander!" he yelled, getting nothing in reply. "Xander! It's okay, it's Eden!" He heard a happy bark and the sound of paws running across the wood, and in that second he was knocked to the ground, a happy dog licking his face with concentrated passion. "Good boy!" he said happily, petting the dog as he barked out, looking at Ceridwen and the blue-haired girl. He seemed to take a liking to the latter, probably because she seemed upset, and he ran to jump on her. "Xander! No!" Eden yelled, chasing after the dog but tripping over at the last minute and ending up lying on the girl. Now, the position was slightly awkward, however it was solved by having a dog in between. Xander and Eden peered at the girl, seemingly mirror images of the other.

"Are you alright?" Eden said, not getting off (he didn't consider the position 'awkward') but instead getting incredibly close to the girl's head and checking for any bumps. Xander jumped away but Eden continued to check for damage.

(Yes cats, and dogs, still exist in Am Callite. Deal with it. XP)

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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BGM: Future

"Your eyes are raining."

These sudden words struck me like a physical blow, causing me to stiffen and my gaze to rise sharply from where it had lingered, blurry eyes settled upon the gently rocking wooden ground beneath my feet, as a gentle hand parted the blue curtain behind which I had hoped to conceal my tears, brushing the water from my eyes in a manner that was not only surprising because of its suddenness, but also because I knew that it had happened before. As the tender hands that, despite the stoic countenance of one one to whom they belonged, reached down to my lips and drew them back into the smile they had worn for just an instant before, more comforting words faintly reached my ears over the roaring of the wind and the crashing of the waves against the ship's bow, as though coming into my hearing by spanning all the years that separated the present from when I had heard that voice last, speaking the same tender promise that it now fulfilled so many years later...

It had been my initial induction into our little circle of friends. I had been desperately lonesome, and so had finally mustered my courage and conducted what I regarded as my one truly successful experiment: a magical attempt to conjure for myself some companions who would truly understand and accept me. At first, I had been terribly afraid that I had failed. Even after the spell had been cast, there were no results at hand. No loving troupe of comrades appeared to me, and I found myself just as alone in the large park as I had been before. It seemed to me that all of my hopes for the future had been dashed, and, my heart overflowing with sorrow for the first time of many to come, I'd seated myself on one of the swings in the long-since darkened playground and simply cried. To my surprise, though, a lone figure on his way home, even that late at night, had stopped on the edge of the park, and, hearing my brokenhearted sobbing, had come to see what was the matter. When he stood before me, the dying lights of the city and the dawning glow of the stars wreathing him with an almost angelic radiance, I had no doubt: this was the friend I had waited for so long to finally meet. This was the savior that would drive away my loneliness forever.

He asked me why I was crying. "Because I'm alone," I had replied. He gave a smile - ever so slight, as all of his expressions always were, but nonetheless, I simply knew it was there, even if it was nearly impossible to see - and said I couldn't have been alone, because he was talking to me. He asked if I wanted to play any games, even though I could see in his face that he had spent the entire day in some strenuous activity and was clearly exhausted. I turned down his offers to play - tag, catch, hide and seek, pretend, and so forth - one by one, and at last, he asked if it would be better if he just left. I replied vehemently that I wanted him to stay, that I didn't want to be left by myself again. And then, he asked me for my name. I answered in a shaky voice, although whether my words were broken by rapturous awe, or by the tears that still fell unbidden from my eyes, I couldn't have said. One thing was clear, though: those tears were no longer tears of sorrow. Just the opposite. I was crying because I couldn't contain the joy that I felt for one instant longer. It was as he had said: I wasn't alone anymore.

"Hey, don't let your smile break," he had admonished me.

I'm sorry, Eden, I let it break...


"Your smile broke," Eden said, staring blankly upward, as though deep in recollection, as he finished his repairs to my formerly crestfallen expression. He had been staring awkwardly upward back then, too.

"Tell you what, if it does..."


"I'm fixing it," Eden finished.

"I'll fix it every time, okay... Marie?"

Yet again, my heart began to spin, despair once again being cast away in favor of the hope that it had consumed just a moment before. I gave a quiet gasp of surprise, the color returning to my cheeks and the life returning to my eyes, driving the last of the tears he hadn't wiped clean from my cheeks away in a heartbeat. It couldn't be... he didn't know who I was, but yet... he still remembered? He remembered the promise he had made, even if he didn't remember to whom he had made it? Even though I, as Marie, didn't deserve to be remembered? I... I didn't deserve such an honest friend as Eden, or such a kind comforter and companion. And yet, the same magic that had brought him to me at the very beginning had returned him to me. I didn't deserve a second chance, but... I had gotten one.

"Do I... know you?" he asked. I opened my mouth to answer, the word "yes" nearly escaping my throat, but, in an instant, something changed in Eden's face, and my reply was cut off before even the first sound of it could be uttered. He drew back his hands from the smile that was now etched into my features, and fell to a seated position, burying his face from view and beginning to mutter frantically under his breath, before violently exclaiming the word "No!" He rose suddenly, and turned, raising his hands to strike the nearest person, specifically his brother, who, seeing him approach me, had doubtless come to see what the matter was. Screaming that word again and again, he lashed out violently, raining weak but numerous punches down upon Eric, who had no choice but to defend himself, catching Eden by his hands until he calmed down. As Eden finally fell limply against his younger but more mature sibling, he began to whimper like a defeated animal.

"I don't want to remember," he said. Yet again, the weight of dread and guilt returned to my heart, nearly crushing my newfound happiness beneath it. That was right... he didn't want to remember me, because I was a burden to him. I didn't deserve to be remembered. But, then... what was I supposed to do? He didn't want Marie to exist, but... I could still be a new person, couldn't I? I could still change, right? And, if I did that... maybe I wouldn't be a burden to him? I knew it was wrong. If he hated me enough to have blocked my existence from his memory, then the only right thing to do was to leave so he didn't have to bother with me anymore. The only right answer was to disappear. But, on the other hand, if I did that, then I'd be all alone. I didn't want to be alone again...! He was right there, so why?! Why did I have to stay alone, even when he was standing right before my eyes? Being alone wasn't just sad... it was scary! To know that nobody cared whether you lived or died, that nobody would bother to remember that she existed... what kind of a life was it, to be alone? That wasn't life at all, and I didn't want to live that way... no, I couldn't live that way! If I disappeared, I'd disappear forever, even from myself. I'd be ending everything with my own hands, and simply fading away. But wasn't that wrong? Even if he wanted Marie to disappear, couldn't I be someone else? Maybe I wouldn't bother him anymore, and I wouldn't have to be alone! Yes... that was what I would do. When both paths before me seemed wrong, I was terrified by the magnitude of the choice I knew I would have to make. But if I had to make it regardless of how I felt, then what was the point of being afraid? There was none. There was only one option. If I could not live in solitude, and if I could not live without changing, then I would live, but I would change! If both paths were wrong, then I would take one of my own! I wouldn't make Eden remember something he didn't want to think about. I'd simply start over, and make a new memory worth remembering, together with my friends, even if they didn't know who I was.

"Xander!" The sudden cry broke me out of my reverie, but it did not break the newfound resolve I had finally discovered buried in my heart. Even if the clouds still rolled in the sky overhead, those which had blurred my azure gaze were gone, letting the cerulean skies of my soul shine through its sapphire windows. Eden was rushing toward me, chasing after what looked to be a large dog. I didn't remember him having a dog back in the days I had known him, but a lot had changed since then, including my own recollection of events. I might have simply forgotten about the dog, Xander. But, if I had, he had not forgotten about me - trust such a loyal animal to remember things like old friends - for he leaped joyously upon me, followed in an instant by his master, who, while trying to prevent him from knocking me over, inadvertently tripped and caused the very thing he was trying to preempt. The two of us tumbled down to the ground together with the wet, enthusiastic dog, a tangled, wet jumble of confused, surprised bodies that fell in an instant to the deck.

BGM: Screen

For a moment, I was stunned by the impact for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past half hour. Having literally crashed first into Eden, then into a wall the moment Ceridwen arrived, and now being knocked to the deck by the sudden weight of having another person - even one as petite as Eden - tumble over on top of me, which didn't even take into consideration the dog which now lay dazed but cheerful, splayed over over my chest and licking my cheek contentedly. I gave a quiet laugh despite myself. The dog's tongue kind of tickled. But, this laugh was cut off as a shadow fell over my vision. At first, I thought Eden was simply rising to his feet, but a moment's checking showed that this was not the case at all, for he had pushed himself to a more comfortable position on all fours - his hands placed gently but not weighing down upon my shoulders, and his knees supporting most of his weight in the gap between my spread knees where he half-sat, half lay over me, leaning ever closer down toward me with each passing beat of my rapidly accelerating heart, unhindered by the dog, who, with Eden's sudden movements, trotted briskly away, leaving Eden directly above me, with nothing separating us besides an insignificant distance of air - not even that much, in some places. His face was only inches away from my own, and I could feel myself begin to heat up from head to foot, as though the sudden surge of warmth that rushed through my cold, drenched body was coming from the boy on top of me. In a way, it was, actually. If it weren't for his proximity to myself, I wouldn't have felt so embarrassed. Although I was glad for the fact I wasn't cold anymore, the position we were in was rather compromising, even if he didn't seem to realize it and I didn't really know why I felt so ashamed to be seen in such a manner, or why I was so afraid for a moment of his lips brushing against my own...

"Are you alright?" Eden asked quietly, the concern he felt for my well being evident in his voice, although any feeling of awareness for the position he now occupied above me was sadly lacking in either his face or his words. I nodded nervously, the blue of my hair and my unsure gaze contrasting sharply with the tomato-colored blush that had completely overtaken my features in an instant, turning my skin from its usual rosy pink to a vibrant shade of scarlet. "I... I'm okay..." I said weakly, my voice almost silenced in my throat by the realization that as he spoke, I could feel his breath against my face, warm and soft despite the cold air and the stormy winds that buffeted us, and that if I were to speak, he would no doubt feel the same sensation. Immediately, my shame multiplied, and I found myself becoming confused and frightened by the unidentifiable but nonetheless greatly embarrassing fears and thoughts that came unbidden into my mind. Why did this keep happening? Why was it that I kept ending up so close to him? And, moreover, why did being close to Eden make me feel so panicked? I had known him since childhood, and even if he didn't recognize me now, we had been close, once, and I remembered several times sitting in his lap, or holding his hand, and never in those memories did I sense a trace of any feeling besides innocent admiration and adoration, not a trace of shame or guilt accompanying those pure-minded recollections in the least. For some reason, though, even considering that I had done those things once just made me feel more embarrassed. What was wrong with me? I couldn't understand how one person's nearness to me, or how the awkward position I was in, could set my skin on fire and cause my heart to race. I just didn't understand it. So, as with many things that made me feel uneasy, I tried to change the subject and simply hoped the unwanted feeling would go away.

"Er... Cleo. Call me Cleo," I said, sounding at first unsure of even the nickname by which I introduced myself, but seeming to grow more firm with the repetition of the statement. The name was one by which I had occasionally been addressed by classmates at school, as it was a shortening of my last name, Cleophel. "It's... kind of embarrassing if you just call me 'you' or 'blue haired girl,'" I explained sheepishly, my eyes turning away from him out of an awkward feeling I could not hide. "A-ah... What should I call you?" I asked. I knew what the answer would be, as I already knew his name, but I felt like it would only make sense to ask the question regardless. We were starting over. He didn't want to remember me, and if I revealed I knew who he was, then he no doubt would be forced to. So, instead, I opted simply to pretend, to make believe as I had done on this same ship so many times before. I would change myself, and by doing so, I would keep Eden from having to remember that which he hated so much: myself, the girl Marie who had only been a burden to him.

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Ceridwen


Whatever had happened, had happened. Maybe she didn’t understand it, but again, Time was to blame, it always, always was whenever something unexpected happened in the world. Time had torn them apart, and robbed everyone of their memories, it’d changed everyone and everything . . . and it was up to its evil ways yet again, throwing everyone into the unknown, into the things they’d never understand. The old dilapidated ship had somehow be cast out into the sea as a storm began to brew overhead, and the rain began to fall as the ship was beaten against by waves. . . . And even if it seemed stupid of her, the only thing Ceridwen found herself capable of doing through everything that was happening was watch, just, just watch. She couldn’t bring her feet to move as the world seemed to shift into the unknown, changing into something that seemed like it was an adventure conjured up by the imagination of children. Just like the imaginary adventures certain children used to have on the old rotten ship years ago before Time intervened. . . .

Even if she should’ve been doing something, was urged to, for some reason, she just couldn’t bring herself to move from where she stood. The rain pelted her skin, soaked her through, and the cold sea mist only made her pale skin tighten against her muscles, leaving her with goose bumps. Eden had called her by her name, but he’d addressed Marie as ‘blue-haired girl,’ before he seemed to almost remember her. Marie came out to cry from something that Ceridwen didn’t understand, and through everything, the only thing the little ninja could find herself doing was just . . . watch them. Why was it that she couldn’t bring herself to move? Or to do anything useful? Over the last years, she never intervened in the lives of her once-friends, those people that used to consider her so important to them, yes . . . she believed that she was always doing the right thing, watching over them from afar, never stepping back into their lived but for shallow instances.

Her memories hadn’t left her of when they’d all been children, she could remember with such clarity, so many of the imagined adventured they’d shared, the fun times. But, did those things mean anything in these days? After everyone had distanced themselves from one another, the days of childhood seemed to no longer matter, have any significance, except maybe to her alone.

Rii’s always stood by and watched, thinking that she was doing the right thing. she stood there silent, without moving as before. She’d hoped that maybe Time could be won against, that maybe even she herself had won a small battle against it by keeping her memories, but maybe Rii was wrong. Ceridwen had always thought that maybe Time hadn’t yet gotten to her, hadn’t changed her, but maybe that wasn’t so true anymore. Even if she remembered as much as she did, if her once dear friends didn’t then, what merit did her recollections have? If you were the only person who held onto memories when no one else did, then that almost made it like whatever happened, never really happened. It rendered it null. She stood by, just watching her friends, thinking that maybe she was doing the right thing, that she was. . . . Rii never stepped in; she never tried to anything to stop what was changing, to keep things together. She just became an observer.

While the events around her continued, Ceridwen just couldn’t bring herself to move, she simply stood there until a jolt through the ship taking on a wave sent her down to her rear. Even after this, the girl just sat there, seemingly staring into blank space, lost somewhere in her own mind. Her lavender-colored eyes were wide with realization, as she started to understand something from her inability to move right when she really needed to, something that she hadn’t ever come to understand about herself before. No matter what Rii has seen happen to her friends, she’s never done anything to stop it, to change it. She always acted like there was no reason, that she was doing the right thing by preserving a distance. But . . . did it really do any good? They forgot, they forgot everything, and they changed so much. Rii always told herself she’d stop them from being unhappy, but never once in the last few years did she do anything to intervene on anything. Just like. . . .

She was known, known only on a skin-deep level by her old friends. They knew of her, but, but their interactions never at all displayed that they remembered, that they knew. Ceridwen had always hoped that things would change, go back to before, that maybe Time could be stopped, beaten, that they’d remember! And she always just stood by watching over them without doing anything to help or even acting like the friend she used to be with them. And, maybe in the last few years of her life, she’d garnered her own distance from everyone without meaning to. Maybe she’d become scared. Scared . . . scared of permanently creating a gap between herself and everyone else by acting like a friend when it seemed like she was just a stranger. Did Rii want to preserve what she remembered? Did she think that acting would only make things worse maybe? Even when she needed to act, for some reason, she found herself unable to. When her friends needed her, when they were right in front of her and she was needed, she couldn’t get her damn self to move.

Eden, Eric, Marie . . . Rii always told herself that she was doing the right thing by just passively watching over you, thinking of the old days and still thinking of myself as being friends with everyone as before, she thought of herself as having the same relationship with everyone as before despite the changes. Maybe Rii is still herself . . . but the relationships she’d have with everyone, they wouldn’t ever be the same, they can’t. The people she knew as her friends, they aren’t . . . they aren’t there anymore. They don’t remember her, and it seems like they don’t much want to. Even if Rii is as she was before, no one else is. Reality and Time were cruel; turning on innocent children, tearing them apart and doing this to them. . . . But, what they wanted to do was done, they’d had their fun and done whatever the hell they’d decided to with the friendship that they’d all once shared.

Ceridwen found herself swallowing hard, coming back to reality from her thoughts, to the world and situation at hand; seeing her friends in . . . whatever bizarreness they were in; only to remember what she’d come to understand moments before. They were her friends. She still thinks of them as important, but she is to them only what a stranger would be. No better. Perhaps it’s time for Rii to . . . stop thinking only about the past with them, and to try to go ahead into this ‘adventure’ with them as they are. She was . . . she was feeling very cold now, from the soaking rain which left her sodden, from the cold sea air which only seeped through her clothing. . . . She can’t stand idle anymore, thinking only of the past, fearing the future, Rii has to take what’s come now. She has to accept things, even if they aren’t what she wants. And, even if things can’t be like they were before, there’s still the chance that . . . that we can all become friends again, even if it’s different.

Even if it was different . . . at least being friends with them again would be something, it wouldn’t be exactly what she wanted, but it would be something. Something of a tired smile seemed to come over Ceridwen’s face as she came to shut her eyes, in a way, she almost seemed content as she sat there quietly in the rain, the restless sea beating against a ship which shouldn’t have even floated. Though she should’ve felt a great loss by her realization, for some reason, the girl simply found herself relaxed in a way, she felt . . . okay. It wasn’t going to be easy, pleasant, or anything of the sort to step on into whatever the future had to bring while having to refriend her once dear ones, but . . . it was something she could manage maybe. Just maybe.

Time stole away everything, and at times, it made you have to start anew, and this instance seemed like one of those moments. This was all to be a new beginning, and even if she still held onto her memories of a time before this, that was the past, and what was to come was the future, something she had to take action toward, simply standing around, and watching wouldn’t get her anywhere.

If that meant saying goodbye to all her memories of before, letting go of what she remembered about her friends to accept they as they were now, then . . . it had to be done. She had to act, and now.

Taking in a deep and uncertain breath, Ceridwen found herself ascending to her feet, her body cold, and beginning to feel numb, her clothes sodden and heavy with rain, sticking to her skin as her hair was in no better shape. Even in the braid she kept it in, the light locks managed to become a tangled mess, ready to come out of the plait. As the girl brought herself to look up, her childlike lavender eyes held onto unshed tears as a result of her realizing that she had to say goodbye to the before in order to take on the now, to accept into her life the new Eden, Eric and Marie. Hopefully, they could accept her as well, whether or not she’d changed, Ceridwen just hoped that they could still accept her.

“Rii understands now . . . that she’s been wrong this whole time, she can’t hold onto something that has no merit to anyone but herself.” She said quietly to herself, speaking to no other. “Promises fade along with the memory of them, if a miracle happens and that comes back, then so be it, otherwise, what happened is gone.” The memory of a promise for her to never be alone again; Time had managed to win over her on that battle, as all she could even remember of that was the actual promise. “She’ll never remember who made her that promise, but it doesn’t matter anymore, the one who promised it doesn’t remember, so Rii shouldn’t expect anything more.”

Sniffling a bit, she brought her hand up to her face, and wiped away at the tears that tried to fall, rubbing them away before they could. Pulling her head up, the little-ninja managed a smile over her face despite the terrible weather, ready to make herself move, to do what she had to in order to escape this storm. “All right! Rii’s ready to get her ass moving, she hopes that everyone else is too; cause we need to get out of whatever we’re stuck in now!” she called, the energy returning to her voice, though there was no denying that it was interlaced with sorrow.

Ceridwen continued to smile, until a rough wave took on the ship again and knocked her back down onto her rear.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Eden & Eric


Alone

"Your ass isn't going anywhere soon if you're falling over all the time, honey." Eric laughed, grabbing Ceridwen's hand and picking her up quickly, almost falling over himself.

Eden's fingers ran along the back of the poor girl's head, checking for any bumps. When his eyes scanned the girl's face, his confused look grew. His hands touched her face. "You're burning up. Are you sure you're okay?" His fingers passed her lips without even stopping, going on to check her cheeks. He leaned in and stared at her in the eyes, practically glaring into her eyes. He felt her breath against his, before leaning back and touching her cheeks. "Are you. . ." his eyes flicked to the side awkwardly. "embarrassed?". His eyes looked at her, maybe a bit of shock in his eyes. "Why? You're . . ."

Cleo? No, that couldn't be right. But that was what she'd called herself, right? She reminded him of that girl, that Marie. Then again, that couldn't be right either. "Are you sure?" Eden spoke softly, staring the girl in the eye, before almost whacking himself. "I-I'm just joking. Of course you're sure. Ignore me." He blushed bright red and laughed quietly, looking away, before grinning at her. The boy prodded her on the nose jokingly, before stopping himself.

He wanted little contact with anyone. No one noticed, but the boy, only visiting from the city, had started straying. He'd become tired, he sometimes rarely slept for days. As a thirteen year old teenage boy, it was almost unheard of in his town to work. He sat there, dark rims around his eyes on the edge of the ship. He'd gone to see his brother without asking his stepmother, he'd been punished and sent right back. The boy sat on the boat's railing, plasters on his arms and a bruise on the side of his face. His feet shakily found the edge, ready to get up and go, but his body just tumbled to the ground. He hit the sand and silent sobs left his mouth, rolling into a ball on the floor. The girl had patted him on the head, stroked his hair without a word, and prodded his nose softly. 

"Marie. . . You're still here?" he said, his voice raspy. She asked where he'd gone, where he'd gotten his injuries, why he was crying. He'd answered with "My dad's", "I fell" and ". . . Because I'm alone." The first two were obvious lies; without him knowing, his father's funeral had been held in the city and many had attended. He, however, had no idea. 

However, the girl had smiled and told him the same words he'd said to her, about fixing his smile. "Don't." he had said in irritation. "Life's not that easy. Some smiles are just too broken, Marie. It's okay though, cause you're sad too. But guess what, Marie? I can eat sadness." Eden then spent the next few seconds inhaling and chewing a whole lot of air, making the two smile and laugh. He sat her in his lap and looked out to the sea, grinning softly. "You're amazing though, Marie. Your smile can always be fixed."

The sun had started to set; the last train would be leaving in about half an hour and he had to sprint, saying goodbye to his lovely little Marie. That was easily the last he'd seen of her, or rather, taken into account that he'd seen her, and left without turning around. He didn't know, but if he did, he probably would have cried a whole lot more.


The boy snapped out of his lifeless daze when he felt his brother lifting him up from where he was sitting, still on the poor Cleo. He saw his brother frowning at him angrily. "Poor girl, having you crash onto her and sitting on her with your tiny shorts! Good thing you weigh nothing! You need to stop gazing off into the distance, Mr Daydreamer! It's a good thing we didn't grow up together, or I would have turned out like you! Good thing we have an abnormal family."

"What family?" Eden remarked.

Eric frowned. "We still have Mum, somewhere. And if not, Miranda's still there."

The older brother flinched noticeably. "Yeah. Mum. Yay." he said, almost blanking out again. He caught the hand about to slap him out of a daze, taking it and flipping his brother over to the floor. He stood with his foot on his brother's chest, glaring.

Tsuritama March

"I can see your undies~!" Eric sang wheezily, trying to sit up. "Aw, you look so cute from this angle!" Eden jumped off.

"Odd child." he said glumly, before looking at his brother in shock. "You couldn't have a brother complex, could you?"

"Course I do! You're just so cute!" Eric teased, jumping on and glomping his brother, ignoring the little squeals coming out of his older brother. He laughed his head off instead, pulling his brother's cheeks playfully, before running away. Instantly, he was chase by his stoic elder, no readable look on his face. They ran in circles, until Eden caught up and crashed into his brother, both bumping into the wheel. The ship changed direction and Eden swore loudly, earning a surprised look from his brother. "Hey." He was ignored. "Hey! You never swear. Is something wrong?" Eden ran up to the wheel, muttering. As he got closer, he just heard him saying random letters. No, he was saying the letters printer on his EntEr in specific orders rapidly. "Eden!"

"Yes, something is wrong." he replied calmly, before returning to his muttering. All of a sudden, he spun the wheel quickly, throwing Eric on the floor with the jolt. Eden held onto the wheel tightly, before the ship slowed to a stop. When Eric got up, he saw sand. 

The Reichenbach Ballad

Blue sand.

Eden looked at it. "I guess blue is 'in' right now." he said, glancing at Cleo and then at the sand. 

"Do you want me to paint your nails blue?" 

Eden cursed his brother rudely, loudly, earning himself a reprimanding look. The sand shimmered under the sun, like the sea itself. The trees, their leaves green like emerald, looked like they glistened like glass when the sun hit them. This island seemed to be the only pace where it wasn't raining. "Right. I'm hungry." Eric said, before getting a manic look from Eden.

"What? You're always hungry! Always! I work my ass off trying to feed us both and you have most of my meal anyways! You've eaten about a million times today, including eating most of the food in that bag, most of which I was saving for earlier!" Eden yelled, shaking his brother by his shirt. "Damn you! Damn you, child!"

"Eden!" Eric replied, looking his brother in the eye. "Calm down! Eden, c-calm down!" Eden sighed and went to the side of the ship, scaling down the ladder. When Eric looked over the side of the ship, he saw Eden walking in silence, his hands in his pockets. He walked quickly, calmly, without another glance backwards, before stopping and yelling loudly. Eric blinked at his brother, before smiling warmly as Eden started storming back towards the ship. 

When he climbed back onto the deck, Eric was grinning at him stupidly. That deserved a glare. In fact, he glared at everyone before stomping into one of the cabins, whining about not having an EntEr to play with. Eric followed him quietly, mouthing a quick 'Sorry!' to the girls and went to pick him up, carrying a pouty boy out of the cabin. Eden looked like a small child sulking, being carried piggy-back on his younger brother, his eyes shinier than usual. 

"Eden, what do you have to say?" Eric asked patiently.

". . ."

"Eden?"

Eden frowned childishly. "Sorry."

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Ceridwen


A laugh came from Ceridwen’s lungs as she was helped back up to her feet, only for said helper to about wind up on his ass just like her too. That would be just like gravity to go ahead and make someone who was just trying to be helpful fall as well. Eric didn’t remember, just like Eden and Marie seemed to not. But, he was still helping her . . . and that in itself was enough to conjure up a feeling of lost nostalgia from in Ceridwen, it made her remember the days of childhood long since past. Her clumsiness was something which had plagued her since she was a child, anytime she’d lost her focus while trying to do something, she always wound up getting hurt, or falling over in the middle of a stunt. It didn’t help that she’d always been frail as a child; whenever she’d tried to do something a bit crazy as a kid, the memory of her health would always come back to her, even as she’d began to recover, and that thought always pulled her back down. It made her clumsy.

Even as she’d grown up, the old memories of her fragile health in her early years still did haunt her sometimes, it caused her moments of cautiousness that were unnecessary, it stirred her focus and often caused her more problems than not. Yet even knowing that, it was a part of herself she couldn’t let go of, it was probably one of the few things Time had not managed to steal away from her and change. Unlike a number of things. Without realizing it in the last years, she’d somehow become a coward in regards to her own past. Her memories permeated so much of her life, fed into her present existence that they seemed to have managed to consume her at some point when she hadn’t been looking. They’d taken her over completely, somehow. She’d always thought that she was the same person as before, from before everything between them changed, she had always been so sure . . . but, that was never true was it?

Cowardly, that was what she’d become. With every day she had chosen to live within her memories, to cling onto them, her heart fragmented just a bit more, it shattered apart, and locked itself into her past. It became timid and scared, afraid to confront the truth of reality, that Time had managed to change everything, even herself. Her heart became a coward; it ran away from everything while keeping the truth from even Ceridwen herself. She had always thought that she was doing the right thing by just being an idle observer toward her friends, looking at them from afar, never coming in close again . . . she was sure that was what a good friend would do. But it wasn’t. In the years since they’d split, their ties severed, she’d changed too, and turned into who she was now; a girl whose heart never wanted to realize the truth, yet at last had . . . in some way.

A melancholy smile had taken root upon her face as Eric had headed over toward Marie and Eden, both of whom were still caught in a rather awkward position. Back to her feet, the girl with the cowardly heart looked on at her once-friends, feeling tears beginning to well up from within them, rimming her eyes so they shimmered like crystal. Though the tears blurred her vision more than the rain and cold sea mist, the warm water never left her eyes. They stayed there as Ceridwen looked on at the three, watching Eric left Eden off Marie. Her scared, timid heart-fragments were lodged deep within her memories while she watched the two brothers, she couldn’t hear what they were saying over the rain, but she did see the flinch come from Eden. . . . A moment of unhappiness, something from the past, in the past from the days she always swore that she’d protect her friends happiness, the days of her spinelessness.

There was no getting her past back, no recovering the bonds that they’d shared before everything Time had changed. The past couldn’t ever come back. Ceridwen, she knew that, but a part of her seemed to have clung onto the notion that it was possible, that Time could be beaten, that things forgotten could be remembered. Even if she remembered, what did that mean if no one else did? It was pointless, utterly pointless. And, even if admitting that was painful, maybe admitting it could allow her to move on. She could never recover what had been so precious to her as a child, the days of wonderment and imaginary adventures was over, long since. The days of pretending to be part of a pirate crew, doing her best to keep up with everyone and thing going on around her despite her frail health, the days of almost coming to tears with happiness at the fact that her friends waited for her despite her falling behind. . . . That was, that was over. Those days were never coming back, and they lived on only in her memories.

If no one else remembered, then those precious moments weren’t so precious. They meant next to nothing if she was the only one who retained them. So then, did that mean that . . . that it might be okay if she let them go too?

Hoping no one would notice, as Eden and Eric seemed preoccupied with one another, chasing the other around in circles . . . Ceridwen found herself casting her head down, shutting her eyes as a tear finally escaped her eyes. It ran down her sodden cheek, melding together with the cold rain and sea air to never be distinguished. Her tears were no different from the rain now, as she herself would be no different from her once-friends. She would be just like them, having let go of the past. It had to be done. Even if it was hard, she knew that she had to do this; it was the only way. The only way that she might find some semblance of happiness in her future. The days of innocence had gone by, happiness coming from the imagination, from simple things, they could never be retrieved from the tides of Time. And even if this truth was saddening, and even if it pained every weak-willed fragment of Ceridwen’s heart, it was something she had to accept. To find any joy, to have any hope of finding common ground with those who were once so damn important to her again, Ceridwen had to let everything go, and she had to cope with what would come, who these . . . people were now.

When the ship changed directions, lurching sharply in a different direction than before from the brothers’ antics, Ceridwen’s body jerked to the side, and she about lost her balance again, yet being forced back into reality stirred her reflexes into action, and she managed to keep herself upright for the most part, as she caught herself from falling over by grabbing onto the railing of the ship. It changed directions again, sending a jolt through her small body, causing her heart to leap into her throat from the sensation . . . along with her stomach. The suddenness about made Ceridwen heave.

Controlling her frantic breathing, urging away the nausea, she only came back to awareness fully when she realized that the ship had come to a . . . stop. There was no more soaking rain, no more cold sea mist, no more rough waves to knock her around.

Drawing her head up, and managing herself back to her feet, the silver-haired girl looked out from beyond the ship to see . . . blue sand. Blue. If things hadn’t been weird enough already with everything that’d happened. Now, there was blue sand. With no thoughts in her mind, Ceridwen simply looked upon the glistening grains as the sun made them look like tiny ground up gemstones. Her mind not comprehending it really, as it just couldn’t quite understand the ‘blue’ factor well. After a moment of her flabbergasted state, she shook her head as she tried to bring herself back. This is . . . beyond odd, even as Rii is concerned. she thought, pulling herself away from the side of the ship to look back out onto the deck.

It was the squabble between Eden and Eric about the matter of food that really caught Ceridwen’s attention again, her lavender eyes went back to the two of them. A vacant sort of look had passed over her face at this, as she was standing right there, near them as they fought, looking at them from closer than she’d been in years. Normally, her onlooker status had kept her in hiding, trees, behind things, never right in the open to see it close. Seeing this so close . . . it made her feel the fear she’d been denying the existence of for the last years, she felt her heart’s pain, the pain Time inflicted upon her without her knowing. Seeing it scared her, being so close to it scared her. It just . . . made her feel a fear she didn’t even realize existed within her until now.

Rii can’t act like she can stop this, because she can’t. No matter what she told herself before, she can’t step in and stop something like a friend, because she isn’t a friend to them anymore. They don’t remember Rii, and if they don’t remember, then . . . then they don’t know I was their friend. she reasoned, If there is any hope of trying to claim some sort of happiness with them as her friends in the future, she has to act as if she something of a stranger to them, she can’t act like she’s familiar with them and this.

This was reality now. How she had to act, to treat her friends; even if she could act like herself, she had to act like she didn’t know them, or understand this, like she expected things from them.

When the brother’s had returned, Eden being piggybacked by Eric while being chided to apologize, Ceridwen just couldn’t stop herself from having a sweet smile form over her face, even if she knew she couldn’t act as if she expected this sort of thing from the two, that was just something she couldn’t help. Letting out a deep breath, she found herself shutting her lavender eyes again, as she felt tears prickling at them again. For a moment, she stood in her silence; that smile across her features before she forced herself back into reality. Her clothing drenched, hair plastered to her face while it dripped in its sodden state, just like her clothing which clung to her small form as soaked as they were. Her froggie boots felt squishy too; water had probably gotten in there at some point.

It was time to let it go, the past had to be thrown away to proceed now. She would take on a new self for now, be a Ceridwen Nox who was only familiar to these three people on a superficial level. To this Ceridwen, Eric was someone who she spoke to at school on occasion because they shared a class or two together, Marie wasn’t Marie; she was Cleo, someone she barely knew at all, and Eden was . . . was hardly anyone to her, she’d have seen him around school but may’ve only exchanged a word or two with him by chance, if even that, and it would take until now for her to realize that he was Eric’s brother. There was no past friendship, only what might come now. So . . . it was time she act.

And so, it began with her loud and drawn out sigh as her small hands traveled up to her drenched braid, letting her hair free from it as she ultimately began to wring out as much water from it as she could. “Well, Rii’s not sure what happened with all this stuff, how she got here with everyone . . . but she does at least have a bit of good news. Since the ship stopped getting tossed about by waves, her ass can finally get in gear and not just wind up being semi-attached to the ship deck!”

Rii has to act like this, it’s the only way, her past can never come back, and the only way to find any contentment in the future, she has to do this. she thought, the stupid grin never leaving her face as she came back from getting the water from her hair, putting her hands to her hips before looking at Eric and Eden, “Y’know Eric, Rii never knew that Eden was your brother . . . she knew you had a brother, but she didn’t know who he was.” With that said, she looked at Marie, “And . . . Rii thinks that your Cleo, right?” she asked, impolitely pointing at the periwinkle-haired girl, still smiling. “She’s sorry if she’s wrong, but she doesn’t know everyone at school, and does her best to remember, but if Rii is wrong, then please correct her.”

Of course, she knew she wasn’t wrong, but . . . she had to act like she didn’t know for sure. Her past was over, the memories were gone, and the friendship between them vanished with Time’s theft of it. The memories of everything . . . of her joy, her happy times and the companionship once shared, and a promise made to her by a friend who’s face she couldn’t remember, the only thing she could remember were the words, not even the voice that’d said them to her. A promise and many memories were to die that day, and be buried forever.
This was how it had to be . . . unless a miracle occurred.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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BGM: Shizuka na Yoru ni

A soft, tender hand ran through my hair, brushing against the top of my head - probably checking for bruises, which was understandable, considering all of the head injuries I had suffered in the past few minutes. But this didn't really help things, considering that even as I tried to change the subject, Eden was still seated securely on top of me, rubbing me down for injuries. I could vividly feel the blush spreading across my face as he began to run his hands over my cheeks, making a comment about how hot my skin was and asking me if I was sure I was okay. I nodded slightly, opening my mouth to affirm my condition - and possibly to ask him to get off of me - when he leaned in suddenly to scrutinize my countenance closer, brushing his forehead against my own. Immediately, my lips shut tightly as I drew back as best I could, my heart starting to flutter in my chest as I realized that had I not moved as such, I would likely have been accidentally kissing him at the moment - a thought which filled me with even more embarrassment as I tried to wrap my mind around the situation I was in. Eden, a boy I had known for years but who did not remember me, was currently sitting on top of me and giving me a rather zealous check-up for injuries. His face was only centimeters from my own - perhaps not even that much - and he was staring directly into my eyes as though he had lost something there. If I recalled correctly from my experience in the world outside my room, this was what was called a "romantic situation." Well, from what I knew of such encounters - which wasn't much, mind you - the one with whom you shared these moments was supposed to be someone you were close to. Also, that person being cute was apparently supposed to be a major plus. And, under these circumstances, it was apparently supposed to feel perfectly natural. Well, Eden was hands-down my best friend in the world - he had always been - and even if he didn't remember me, I still felt the same as I always had about him. And, I admit, calling him cute was, in my book, a major understatement. Eden was the sort of person who had a perpetual look of innocence and peace about him despite his stoic attitude. He was the sort of person you just wanted to give a big hug to, the sort of person whose smile brought a spring to your step, a leap to your heart, and a reflection of the same to your own lips. That was just how it was, being with him. But, either my information was bad - admittedly, this option seemed rather likely, as my sources were rather unreliable - or I was somehow doing something wrong, because the fact that I knew Eden well - not to mention the manner in which his appearance was the centerpiece of my vision, and the old urge to give him a hug probably would have been irresistible to me if I hadn't felt so ashamed - only served to make things worse. My heart was beating out of control, and my face was redder than the surface of Mars, as though I thought I was a chameleon and was trying to hide behind the crimson scarf I wore.

"Are you... embarrassed?" This question snapped me back to the present. Good. He finally noticed! Wait, or was that bad? I didn't want him to feel guilty about his actions. But, at the same time, I wanted him to move a little further away from me...

"A-ah... A... bit..." I answered lamely, glancing away from him, just as he was doing in return. Why was it embarrassing just to say I was embarrassed? What was wrong with me? And, wait, if he was looking away like that, I had probably hurt his feelings. I'd made him feel guilty about his actions, hadn't I? No, no, no! That wasn't what I meant to do at all. Quickly, I wracked my brains for a solution.

"T-thank you, though..." I added weakly, glancing back up at him with a gentle, grateful smile. "It's kind of you to worry about me. But, you don't need to. I-I'm fine," I continued by way of explaining my comment. But Eden didn't seem to notice. He was looking at me as though surprised, an expression that the quiet youth almost never wore.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his eyes gazing intently at me once again and startling me into looking away, the scarlet flaring up in my cheeks once again for reasons I didn't fully understand. For a moment, I didn't understand what he meant. Was he still worried about me being hurt? Or was he trying to reassure himself that it wasn't his fault that I was embarrassed. Then, I realized. He was asking about my name. Or, rather, the name I had given him. For some reason, he didn't believe that my name was Cleo. Could it be that he was remembering the old days, and even if he didn't remember that my name was Marie, he realized who I was and didn't know what to make of my altered identity? For a moment, I was terrified that I had failed to change, and that he would leave me again. But that couldn't be true, could it? No, if that were the case then he would surely have distanced himself from me already. He had said, after all, that he didn't want to remember, right? If he really thought I was Marie, he would probably have dropped me like I was hot and moved quickly away so he didn't have to deal with the nuisance that was me. But then... what did he mean?

"I'm just joking. Of course you're sure. Ignore me," he said at last, giving a nervous chuckle, like one who is embarrassed when the subject to whom he relates a funny anecdote doesn't understand the punchline. He was joking? I remembered him quite well as being strange, so I supposed it wasn't out of the question, but he hadn't seemed to be joking. I couldn't understand the question, so I decided to simply move on and hope I hadn't done anything wrong. "Oh," I said somewhat blankly. What was I supposed to say? I couldn't help but feel I had done something wrong, had made some terrible faux pas, but for the life of me I couldn't understand what had been the issue.

Suddenly, the slight weight on my body vanished. I looked back up to find Eden being hauled up by Eric, who, as he was ought, started poking fun at his older - albeit less mature - sibling. Those two... they were acting just the way I remembered them. As they scurried about the deck, exchanging quips and blows, I unsteadily rose to my feet once again, as though worried I'd be immediately knocked back flat on the deck, and watched them in silence. The old mock-quarrels were still a regular ritual of theirs, it seemed, and, although I was surprised to hear Eden begin to swear as the fight dragged on, I could tell that the little clash was the same as it had always been. And so I didn't intervene, instead opting to simply wait in silence for the fight to come to its usual conclusion.

About halfway through the engagement, we abruptly struck a land I hadn't noticed had been there - my literally accursed eyes were blurry, and the rain and darkened skies didn't help my already poor vision. True to form, I found myself lying on the deck yet again, as I hadn't had time to brace myself for the impact due to my complete lack of foresight. Rubbing my now most certainly aching head, I slowly sat up, glancing back and forth between the quarreling siblings the ground we had struck.

The beachfront around us was relatively normal save for its coloring. The sand was a bright blue in shade, much like the color of my hair at the moment. In the distance, I could make out various trees and shrubs rising from the land, their glasslike surfaces shining in the dying sunlight that seemed to have pierced through the clouds the second we landed, scattering the rain to the seas around us and leaving us in a sudden calm once again. I had to wonder if we were in the eye of a hurricane, but that couldn't be the case. The waves at sea hadn't been nearly high enough, and the winds would surely have capsized us had we ventured into such a storm. But, the weather here, and the surroundings themselves, were most certainly not natural. There could be no mistaking the magic that filled the air for anything besides what it was.

BGM: Broken Moon

Eden had started to pout, it seemed, and had returned to the cabin, only to be dragged out by Eric and forced to apologize. "It's okay," I replied dismissively. "I should be the one apologizing to you. Ever since I came here, I've been nothing but trouble to you... err... Eden, was it?" I acted as though I had only just heard his name for the first time during the argument between himself and his brother. Just then, however, a third voice spoke up behind me, reminding me that we weren't the only ones on the ship.

[i]"Y’know Eric, Rii never knew that Eden was your brother . . . she knew you had a brother, but she didn’t know who he was. And . . . Rii thinks that you're Cleo, right?" The last comment was directed at myself, as Ceridwen pointed in my direction to make clear to whom she was speaking. I gave a quick nod and a wordless affirmative, deciding it would be better not to make myself seem suspicious by saying anything on the subject. Better to act more naturally, I supposed.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Eden & Eric


Meltdown (Jazz ensemble)

"It's okay," She replied and Eden's eyes flicked up from the wooden deck. "I should be the one apologizing to you. Ever since I came here, I've been nothing but trouble to you... err... Eden, was it?" Eden stared at the girl, , before nodding and looking over to his left as if disinterested. He sighed, gazing out at the sand. The boy's thoughts seemed to wonder, as instead of looking at the sand normally, or going into a daze, he glared at the sand without even thinking about it. It was as if he were angry at something, everything, but he wasn't sure on any specifics. He didn't know what made him so aggravated, but his stare at the sand, now filled with almost hatred, became more intense as every second passed. 

“Well, Rii’s not sure what happened with all this stuff, how she got here with everyone . . . but she does at least have a bit of good news. Since the ship stopped getting tossed about by waves, her ass can finally get in gear and not just wind up being semi-attached to the ship deck!” Eric looked at the girl and grinned, but Eden payed her no mind. He was sure he could see something, at the end of the beach. It shouldn't be quite so possible to see something so far away, but the more he stared, the more he saw a ghostly figure down by a rock. Instead of looking like a ghost, it seemed like a remnant of the earlier day.

“Y’know Eric, Rii never knew that Eden was your brother . . . she knew you had a brother, but she didn’t know who he was." Eden was shocked into looking back at Rii with his usual, childlike innocence before his vision blurred for a second, like a camera lens focusing. When he glanced to the side, he saw nothing, no figures. But. . . . Ceridwen knew who he was, didn't she? She seemed to have recognised him earlier, but now she looked at him like he was just another acquaintance. It really was quite weird to him; most people knew they were brothers. In fact, Eric often carried Eden back from school while he played his EntEr, only to rush out when they get home. "And . . . Rii thinks that your Cleo, right?” Eden sighed melancholically. He remembered playing on the ship with Rii, and Marie, but Rii didn't remember him and he had no idea who this Cleo girl was. 

It gives me a headache. he thought grimly, anger suddenly taking over him. It's giving me a headache! I don't understand and it's giving me a headache! His hands gripped Eric's shirt where he was holding on as he buried his face into his younger brother's shoulder, gritting his teeth. It doesn't make any sense. Rii, Eric and I are here because we used to play here, but where did that Cleo girl come from? Eden looked up suddenly, scrutinising the deck quietly. He thought he'd seen something, but that was impossible, since his eyes were shut.

You can't see anything with your eyes shut.

Common knowledge echoed in the boy's thoughts and he started to concentrate on trying to work everything out. His knuckles turned white as he held on to Eric's shirt as tightly as he possibly could. He was only brought back to reality when he heard Eric calling his name worriedly and he blinked, maybe questioning what had just happened. Well, he wasn't really all too sure himself.

Aiyaa Yonsennen (Piano)

The last shimmer of sunlight grazed the blue sand and the sea, disappearing below the horizon without a trace. In almost a second, the weather had gone from storms and thunder to freezing cold air. With all of them completely soaked, Eden sneezed quietly, twice even, and when Eric looked at him, Eden shrugged before jumping down off his brother's back, landing on the floor with the slightest noise. The wind howled past them, brushing against every individual leaf of the big tree , creating a choir of whispers. The brown-haired boys looked up at the tree, though Eric wore a grin and Eden just sighed.

Eden blinked at Cleo and Rii, his eyes wide and wandering before yawning and making his way to the tree lodged on the quarterdeck. He looked up at it, before turning around suddenly and frowning at his brother. "Stop staring at me, Eric." he said, and Eric blinked. How did he know he was staring at him? Eric shook his head, passing it off and some sort of brotherly instinct, but even he felt something was wrong.

The boy looked at his brother with a small scowl, before smiling serenely. "You. . . You should go to bed." he said quietly, his voice almost unheard. He then turned back around and ignored the nagging feeling that Eric was still gazing at him and placed his hand on the tree. "Why can't things be as simple as they were before?" he whispered, pressing his forehead onto the tree's bark. He sighed shakily, as if trying to control himself, before opening his eyes and looking around. As he stared out onto the vast ocean, covered with mist, it finally sunk in how far away from home he was. 

Heck, he was in a different dimension, a different universe.

He leaned over onto the tree, his back hitting it with a slight thud before he slid down down onto his backside. A hand in his hair, Eden started to plait his fringe subconsciously, his lighter brown eye showing. He'd never had that as a child. He never even had a fringe. He remembered that the girls would always play with his hair, tying it up in bunches or plaiting it back since it was around the length of his shoulders. He would always look at them with total boredom in his eyes as they laughed and giggled, playing with his hair. The only thing he ever remembered was thinking that they could easily tie up their own hair, could they not?

Things were as easy as they were back then. That one simple fact was so painfully obvious that Eden felt a pang in his heart, something he wasn't used to. He brought his hand to his chest, frowning in confusion. Eric rushed up, thinking he had possibly hurt himself, but Eden didn't feel any external pain. "It hurts." he said simply, looking up at Eric, a look of surprise and pain intertwined within his brown eye. Eric ruffled his hair with a smile, calming the older brother in a short time. Eden frowned at his younger brother, annoyed that he wasn't taken the current situation into his hands like he usually did. Maybe, people had told him this before, but maybe he depended on Eric too much.

After all, his brother did everything around the house, save from cooking, and Eden never left home without him. Well, unless he was going to work. Eden hated being left behind and practically emotionally forces Eric to take him everywhere, and ever though he is the legal guardian, it's Eric who fills out all the forms, signs everything. With that in mind, Eden brought his knees up to his chest and latched onto them with his arms tightly, placing his cheek on his knee so he was facing away from Eric. "It's fine now. Go to bed."

"But-"

"Eric." The younger boy could hear the distress in his brother's voice, despite him being as nonchalant as ever. Eden looked up, maybe pleading in his eyes. Eric muttered something about not listening because he was seventeen years old and there was only a year's difference between the two. Eden nodded quietly as Eric stayed silent for a second. Deciding to break the silence, Eric grinned and raised his hand to pat Eden on the head, yet he was stopped at the first pat by the visible flinch and the frightful glance he received. "Go away, Eric." Eden mumbled, making Eric sigh. Eden had gone into a mood and he couldn't do anything about it. In fact, all he could really do was sigh, which is what he did, and walk away. When he glanced back, he saw Eden with his hand over his heart and a childish puzzled look on his innocent face. Eric walked over to Ceridwen, smiling softly.

"I personally think you need to give your ass a rest, since we'll probably be doing a lot of exploring tomorrow. That is, if this place even has proper days and all." Eric put his thumb up and winked before making his way to one of the cabin rooms. He went into one of the two on the right and looked inside. It was like someone had set it all up for this, since he was pretty sure the ship's beds and cabins were completely derelict and unusable. But when he looked in, the bed had a pristine white cover on it and there was even a wardrobe full of boy's clothes. It was like someone was watching over them all and making sure the ship was in a good-ish condition. 

1925 (Piano Arrangement)

Eden's voice drifted over the ship like a siren's call, his calming voice hitting every note perfectly. Eric even popped his head out of his cabin to glance at his brother quietly, before going back to scrutinising his room. "A calm and cooling motion, it's shaking off my tension. Surprise, surprise, it's called being alive..." Eden sang quietly, much slower than the original song. He closed his eyes as he tried to reason with himself, convincing himself he wasn't getting home at any time soon. As he sang, he carefully eyed the two girls, but mostly gazed at Cleo, as if expecting to find an answer hidden in her pale blue irises. "If I really understood you better than you know yourself, then I know-" Eden voice trailed off as he felt something in his throat, black patches filling his already partially-impaired vision. The boy looked around, before sliding over onto his side; his eyes were slightly open, as if sleepy, and it certainly seemed like he had gone into a daze, but. . .

Eden looked up to see a figure standing in complete nothingness, almost turning around, before he snapped back to reality with a gasp. What. . . ?


Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Marie had nodded in response to her false question, to her lie. Acting as if she didn’t know who everyone was . . . it was easier said than done. It hurt having to act, but what else was she suppose to go and do now? None of them seemed to know her, they didn’t remember, so her going ahead and acting like she did would only cause more problems than it would solve. If she had a slip-up; suddenly came up with information about someone that a stranger wouldn’t know, only a friend, she would have to play it off as a lucky guess or . . . something like that. She had to be sure that she picked and choose what she did and said around everyone as carefully as possible, if she would up spouting out something that was too specific to simply be a guess, then the whole charade she was putting on now would be for naught, and . . . so would come more problems. Ceridwen was sure that she was making the right choice in acting like she had no memories too, making herself indistinguishable from everyone else in the situation. . . .

She turned her gaze away from her three once-friends, and let the forced smile on her face vanish away into the night, as a sigh left her lips, already she was beginning to feel a dull pain in her heart from having to act like this. It was . . . going to be hard as Hell to keep up acting like a stranger around everyone. Her memories, they didn’t matter, if she was the only one to remember anything then it just had no value. It was either that she live in her past, or she move on into the present and try again. And, trying again seemed like it was better than just stagnating within her memories.

All of this was just . . . just something. The four of them had been gathered together again, for the first time they were all together on the ship in years, and something magical happened? Just something, something she couldn’t make any sense of. Whether it was magic or something else, Ceridwen just didn’t know, there was no way for her to explain it, and there might not even be a way to explain it at all. They were all together again, and were cast out to sea in a ship that should’ve sunk in open water, they were sent through a storm, a terribly strong one, only to wind up with the ship beached on a strange island that seemed immune to the weather of the outside world, and if that wasn’t enough, it even had blue sand. The situation definitely didn’t seem like one that could be explained through rational thought, or through any means that Ceridwen could find herself familiar with. And, it seemed likely enough to her that the same could be said for nearly anyone in the world.

Whatever was going on, the situation was what it was, and there was no changing that, was there? Things like this, things that were beyond the comprehension of the mortal mind and body, they were things that were completely out of her control. It was as simple as that, right? The circumstances at hand, whatever they were, they were just something. It was probably better that she not go and dwell over things she had no control over like this, taking things in strides . . . that would be best, it would be best for her sanity and herself as well. Just taking it all as it came, that was probably the most certain thing she could do. No matter what all of this was, it would unravel itself in time and everything would become clear . . . hopefully. In the meantime, the things which she should probably concern herself with first and foremost were, well, those people who used to be as close to her as family, though she still valued as family.

Eden, Eric and Marie—those three who she had to act like a stranger toward for who knew how long to come. Ceridwen was stranded in some situation she wouldn’t be able to understand for some time with the lot of them, and though her instincts were going to tell her to try to act like she was a friend to the lot of them, she knew that she couldn’t do that at all. She had to act like a stranger in order to keep things between the four of them comfortable, if she acted familiar, then what could that cause to happen? It would be weird, and awkward. Without memories, she would just be a freak to them, and she would ruin the only chance she had to become close to them as they were now.

Even if it wasn’t the same as it was before, getting to be friends with who these three were now was better than not being able to be friends with them at all. She’d take what she could, if it meant that she didn’t have to be alone anymore, if she could vanquish from her heart that fear she didn’t even know that had been within her. Though she might act like a stranger now, she could try to be brave for them this time, because she knew she was guilty of cowardice before, she knew that she had done wrong. But now that she was aware of it, perhaps she could try to do things different than before, of course, she had to approach things as a stranger would, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to help.

Time had indeed been cruel to them all, so very much, but . . . now that something that seemed beyond the realm of even Time had happened; maybe she could find some way for that cruelty to be justified in all this. Just maybe.

It was Eric’s voice that snapped her back into reality, Ceridwen had been off and lost in her own little world, so she hadn’t noticed the happenings around her, nor had she noticed the fact that the crimson sun had dipped down into the watery horizons so far away, and that night had begun to rear its head as stars began to twinkle to life in the skies above.
"I personally think you need to give your ass a rest, since we'll probably be doing a lot of exploring tomorrow. That is, if this place even has proper days and all." she looked up at him, nearly jumping out of her own sodden skin, surprise evident on her face from being startled. Her own smile was gone, though Eric wore a gentle one on his own face. . . . He winked and gave a thumbs up to her as well, before heading off for one of the cabins. He was the same as he had always been, even if he didn’t remember the times from when they were children, Eric was still himself . . . same as ever.

And though she wanted to start anew, it still hurt her to know that someone could be the same without so many memories, ones that remained precious to her, despite knowing that they had no merit when only one remembered them. Ceridwen wasn’t sure if the pain was showing on her face or not, but she knew that her face felt hot; like she was blushing for some reason. And she felt sort of heavy, like she was weighed down with something. Rii knows that it has to be sadness, she knows. . . . She can try to act as best she can, but there is no changing the fact that this is going to be painful for her, acting like she doesn’t remember anything, and getting to see that everyone might still be the same without remembering. she thought, breathing out shakily. Her heart hurt.

Eric was right; she needed her rest but. . . . Could she sleep like this? When things were as they were?

The silly moments of childhood were gone, the memories were . . . nothing. Even if she could remember so much, especially when her recollections were still so vivid. . . . They were nothing! She has to remember that, she has to remember that they mean nothing now! Rii is a stranger to them now, just a stranger!! That’s . . . all she’ll be for a long time.

Ceridwen had started chewing on her lower lip to try and calm herself down from this, to return to normal, or to at least be able to fake a smile and her ruse. It took a lot to keep her from crying out, from dropping to her knees then and there. . . .

The near-breaking point for her though, was when Eden started to sing. Uwchben’s sake . . . why did he have to go and start to do that? It just made Ceridwen sure that Time was a cruel, thieving bastard who enjoyed seeing people wallow in pain and misery. Home was far away, and she was going to be stuck with a lot of pain to come. This had to be Time’s doing indeed.
"A calm and cooling motion, it's shaking off my tension. Surprise, surprise, it's called being alive..." Eden’s singing was enough to make Ceridwen start shaking a bit, as the pain of nostalgia and memories hit home. How could it not when that voice was familiar . . . ? It was silly, but she could remember the times when she was still a child, back before she managed to come to full heal, when it was she still fell ill from her frail body, Ceridwen could remember some of the times when her friends would come to visit her at home when she was like that. It was odd, but her illnesses, they were never contagious . . . every time she fell ill; it was just her body falling to weakness, succumbing to fatigue.

So, her friends had always been able to come see her, despite her technically being sick. And, they did come to see her, a lot, even sick, she’d rarely found herself alone after school would let out like that. . . . And Eden going and singing now, it made her remember one time in particular, when she’d been confined to home due to a bout with her frail body, when Eden and Eric had come to see her once together . . . and had eventually wound up insisting that she go to sleep and rest, despite her not wanting to so she could spend time with them. She’d been stubborn about it, and hadn’t wanted to, but the brothers had wanted her to anyway, they wanted her to get better. After a short-lived argument, it eventually ended . . . with her being lulled to sleep by Eden, him singing, and Eric doing what he could to help her sleep as well. . . . When she’d woken up later that night after that, she’d been peeved with the two of them for getting her to sleep when she hadn’t wanted to.

The memory was a sweet one, and one she cherished more than she could ever say. . . . And it was one which made her want to cry now, thinking about how she might well be the only one who’d ever know of it.

"If I really understood you better than you know yourself, then I know-" When Eden’s voice trailed off so suddenly, Ceridwen came back from her painful nostalgia, and looked at him, confused. She was going to say something, but when it was that he just lolled over, and wound up on his side against the tree, that she reacted without thinking. The years of watching from a distance were gone, and before her now were her friends the people she now insisted on protecting, and looking after, even if she had to do so while acting like a stranger . . . only, in this moment, the acting like a stranger aspect didn’t apply due to her panic.

Her heart leapt into her throat with worry at seeing that happen to him, and before she even realized what it was that she was doing, Ceridwen found herself down on her knees right in front of him; having managed to rip holes open in the knees of her tights in the process. A look of panic and concern had overtaken her red-tinted face; her heart was heavy with worry and pain. Rii doesn’t . . . she doesn’t know what to say or do right now! She inhaled deeply, He just, so quickly, Eden . . . he—what does Rii do?!

He was breathing, and his eyes were open, but only slightly, and he seemed as if he’d been pulled from his body. Had he passed out or, or . . . ? What had happened? Ceridwen had begun to shake with worry before he suddenly gasped, and seemed to come back to reality, looking as if something were wrong, and confused, well, more confused than usual. With worry still upon her own face, Ceridwen acted again without realizing it, her small hand had found its way onto Eden’s forehead, as if she were checking it for a temperature or a sudden fever before she spoke, “Is—is Eden okay? He just so suddenly . . . and Rii, she didn’t. . . .” the girl started, her voice wavering in uncertainty. “He’s, he’s not hurt, right?” Ceridwen asked; her voice cracking as she reached the last word.

She could feel tears trying to come to her eyes, despite the fact she wanted to act like a stranger, seeing her friend go down like that before her was too much to keep an act up with. That was where she remained for the moment, sitting overtop of her once-friend, a look of true worry, and pain, on her face while she had a hand to his forehead.

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Eden & Eric


Bleeding (Juniper's Knot)

“Is—is Eden okay? He just so suddenly . . . and Rii, she didn’t. . . .” Eden looked at Ceridwen, as if shocked that he was even there. He hadn't seen her walk up, but. . . “He’s, he’s not hurt, right?” Eden glance up, noticing her hand on his forehead. He blinked at her, trying to speak, but it felt as if every word he could think of left his mind as he began saying them. The boy instead studied her face, her expression. She was worried, truly concerned for him, but people aren't like that with strangers, right? But. . . Ceridwen was an angel at heart, as he remembered, even if she was more like a little pixie, so maybe she actually just cared like about him like she would anyone.

Eden thought back to what had actually happened. He'd seen a figure, or rather, a dark silhouette in pristine white. He saw it almost turn around, but as to what, why, who and how, he wasn't too sure. The brunette was deep in thought before he realised he hadn't give poor Rii her answer. He brought his hand up to hers and smiled. Yes, it was a small smile, but it was visible. "I'm fine. I just. . . ." The boy paused, as if not knowing what to say. "I just. . . ." he repeated, looking around for an answer, before he made some sort of sense of what happened.

"I must have gone into a daze." he mumbled, half to himself, half to the girl, before he sneezed. He brought his hands up to his nose quickly so he wouldn't sneeze on the girl, but it was more of an airy, cute and small sneeze. With a small sigh, brought the back of his hand to his own head, feeling heat. Ah. That must be it. he thought, feeling his head burning on his cold hands.

He stayed quiet, however, and his eyes flicked to behind Ceridwen, where he saw Eric standing in plain black pyjamas. He held a bundle of clothes in his arms, as if they were for Eden, but Eden looked away, not interested. He, instead, started biting his thumb, causing Eric to sigh, place his head in his hands and sigh.

Eden looked at the tree above him, confused as he bit into his thumb, seemingly nibbling it like a small child. He looked around, before looking at Ceridwen's knees. "How about you?" he said, his voice laced with unwanted mysteriousness. It was almost incomprehensible, as he had his finger in his mouth. He said it more as if it were a riddle, a test, and not a question. "Are you hurt?" He motioned to her tights with the hand he wasn't biting. There were big rips by her knees, as if she had slid onto the floor. But. . . . Why? Oh yeah. Him. She'd probably ripped her knees when she arrived in front of him. Right.

Biting hard, Eden stopped when he saw a shadow come over Ceridwen. When he turned his gaze upwards, he saw his brother standing there with a strip of clothing, ripped from a shirt or something. Eden tilted his head to the left, then the right, before having his thumb forcibly pulled out of his mouth when Eric leaned over Ceridwen. "What are you doing?" Eric question, patience in his voice. Eden shrugged. "You're bleeding. Don't you notice these things?" Eden looked at his thumb. He wasn't blee- Oh. Just as he thought that, a deep red liquid started to trickle down his thumb in a single drop, before being followed by many others. Eric wrapped the wound up tightly, making his older brother wince, and tied it in a cute bow. "See? It's even in your style." Eric laughed, throwing the bundle of clothes into his brother's lap. Well, it was more like a piece of clothing.

It was a kigurimi. The glare Eric received in that second was incredibly intense, but he laughed it off. "It's weird, but as I was going through the too-big-for-Eden pyjamas, I saw this cutie hiding under the piles of clothing! Isn't it adorable? Look, it's a Panda. You know, that really cute animal you find everywhere in the countryside?"

Eden sighed and stood up, patting Ceridwen on the head before stalking off into one of the cabins singing (followed by Xander, who was howling along), rummaging through the wardrobe. He ignored the perfectly-made bed and how clean everything was and found something he liked, even exclaiming a quick "Oh!".

Orange

"On my way home at 5:30 in the evening, with the sky stained into a dark orange, say, where should I head towards?" he sang leisurely as he came out in the clothes he chose. For once, he wore a smile on his face for no apparent reason, walking alongside Xander, who was copying his every step so they were walking in time. "The black concrete utility poles are neatly lined up as my signposts, as I now walk towards an uncertain future. In my nostalgic memories, back in those constantly amazing days, you were always right there with me. Now, without you, I'm unable to live on."

He wore light blue shorts, reaching his knee, which were tied at the ends with small white ribbons to keep them in position on his knee; it gave them a balloon effect near the bottom. A light grey top lay, balanced on the very edge of his shoulders with a slightly darker grey vest visible. The last thing he had was a white dressing gown, around the same length of his shorts. "Your figure floating in the orange-colored classroom, your expression as you searched for something in the sky by the window and your smiling face as we played and bantered on our way home, they are all still causing me great pain. As we walked home together slowly with our hands held, my feet stumbled a little, and I also stumbled over my words. I was hoping that tomorrow would be sunny, too, although that kind of worry was trivial. I prayed for my happiness to continue like that forever."

"Aw, my cute bigger brother." Eden said to Ceridwen, glancing at Eden, now playing chase with Xander. He was knocked to the ground in a few seconds and the two rolled over, play-fighting like they were both dogs. Eden growled when Xander did and gave a big smirk to the dog.

"I can beat you." he uttered, as they ran around, playing tag. He got knocked down again, but he blinked when Xander licked his face. "Hey, Cleo! Come play!" Eden said to the girl, looking at her upside down from the floor. He grinned, before breaking into a short coughing fit, rolling onto his side as he coughed wheezily into his hands. He blinked, before looking at Xander. "You shouldn't feel bad for your opponent, Mr Xander Assassin-dog."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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It didn't take long for the sun to go down. And, lost as we were in an unfamiliar world, we were also cold, wet, and tired. It was only natural that Eric soon proposed that we try to get some rest, and, fascinated and overjoyed as I was by both the magical happenings and the return of my closest of friends, I had to agree that a nice, warm bed was exactly what I wanted at the moment. So, I followed quite willingly towards the cabins, hoping against hope that there might at least be some comfortable nook or cranny there that I might occupy. To my surprise, however, each of the cabins was not only suitable for Human occupation, but also cleaned and prepared, seemingly for exactly that purpose! It took me a moment to remember the magic that had taken us here. It was nearly impossible to believe that I'd finally accomplished my goal, had finally discovered the magic I had longed to prove. But, here it was: more evidence of the supernatural.

I was about to step into one of the cabins - I'd chosen on a hunch, opting to enter the quarters I had occupied quite often during our games all those years ago - when a sudden sound stopped me. It took me a moment to realize that someone close by was singing, a familiar voice resounding through the air and sweeping over the ship. As I turned, I knew whose voice it was that I heard before I saw the face of the singer: Eden. I smiled instinctively. My old friend's singing voice was beautiful and enthralling, catching one's attention the moment they observed it and fixing their eyes and ears upon him. It didn't matter what kind of song he sang, happy or sad. The calming sound of his voice was enough to make me happy regardless. That voice... I hadn't realized until now exactly how much I had missed it. It was such a relief, hearing Eden sing again, that I could have cried for joy.

I was vaguely aware that while Eden sang, he was looking mostly at me, as though in silent inquiry. It had to be. He was wondering who I was, and why I was here, when both Ceridwen and the brothers, who all seemed to share only fond memories of each other, were also present. Why I, seemingly an outsider to their little group, was for some reason on board their vessel as it made its voyage into a magical world we had always dreamed about. Even though I had changed, and was still changing, I still didn't belong, did I?

But I had no time to dwell on this. Suddenly, the voice that had fixated me stopped, ending abruptly in the middle of a note. I snapped to my senses, and would have immediately gone to make sure my friend was alright, forgetting my fear of being discovered as Marie through such a careless act, were it not for the fact that another on the ship was faster than myself. In an instant, Ceridwen was by his side, checking to see if Eden was okay. I heaved a sigh that was both one of relief, and one of sorrow. On the one hand, Eden seemed to be alright, but, on the other I couldn't help but envy Ceridwen. In my eyes, she hadn't seemed to have changed all that much at all. She had stayed the same, and yet Eden welcomed her freely. He seemed to want to remember her, to relive the days of old. She could be as close to Eden as she wanted, had his full attention and care. I, on the other hand, was an outsider, only able to stand back and watch those I had once cherished more than anyone without ever being able to reach out to them. It was like being trapped behind a wall. But worse yet, I couldn't say that the wall hadn't been one I had built. I was alone, but I couldn't say that it wasn't my fault that I existed so.

I turned and gave another quiet sigh. I'd managed to depress myself. It wasn't my place to covet something I didn't deserve, and, given the chance, I didn't think I'd have changed places with Ceridwen if I could have. It was my own fault that things were like this, and I could only reap what I had sown. Perhaps I'd be able to change, to somehow escape the punishment of inexorable fate. But, if I did not, then everything I got would be exactly what I deserved. After all, it was because of my own uselessness that I wasn't something worth remembering. This was just how it would have to be, so I'd better get used to it. With these heavy thoughts on my mind, I silently opened the cabin door and walked inside, shutting it behind me.

The room was small, with a single bed, a few chests of clothing, and a small desk upon which sat, amongst other things, a chess table (Chess was a favorite game of mine, but I didn't remember a chess board ever being there, so I was pleasantly surprised). Next to the desk, built into the wall beside it, was a bookshelf, which was covered with books I immediately recognized as treatises containing descriptions of various magical theories, items, symbols, and events. They wouldn't contain directions for any spells - that much I had already learned to predict - but they might be able to give me a few ideas for later experiments. This thought might have overjoyed me at another time, but I was a bit preoccupied with the situation, and with the friends I knew were still there on the ship outside. There would be a time for experiments later. Right now, I needed to work on the things at hand.

My clothing was soaked through and through by the rain, causing my sweater to stick rather embarrassingly closely to my body - I didn't have much of a figure, true, but I had enough that it showed pretty clearly through the thin, clingy garment - and my skirt to essentially become a slight extension of my legs. With all the water they had soaked up, it felt like I was struggling to move under the weight of a whole ocean each time I took a step, and I was dripping enough to leave small puddles wherever my feet trod. No, there could be no question that I needed to change. So, instead of investigating the room around me, I immediately went over to the chests of clothes and opened them up, hoping that whatever had refurbished the cabin itself had also stocked up on changes of wardrobe.

Sure enough, what met my eyes when I opened up the chest was several clean outfits and accessories in about my size - I decided I'd rather not dwell on that particular detail, although I admit I glanced rather self-consciously around the room, and at myself, after the thought occurred to me. During this second check that I was alone, I couldn't help but notice that the lock on the door was broken, which made me rather reluctant to undress, considering the fact that I wasn't exactly by myself on the ship, and I could, in fact, still hear movement rather unstintingly close to my cabin. But, on the other hand, I was growing colder and more miserable by the second in my drenched clothing, and I had a feeling that if I didn't change soon, I'd be coming down with the cold of the century - although I had a feeling I'd probably be getting sick either way. I supposed that there was no other choice, then.

Glancing over my options, I couldn't help but notice an apparent lack of underclothes. Mine were soaked just like the rest of my outfit, which meant... I reddened sharply. I was not looking forward to this, to be sure. But, still, there was no choice. Might as well get things over with quickly. Hastily, I picked out a set of clothes - some rather soft, warm, and fuzzy pajamas consisting of a simple long-sleeved, button-up top and a pair of closely fitting pants - and set them on the bed. They were a very dark blue in color, with a fascinating pattern spread across their surface that was alternatively cartoonish and realistic, consisting of art of countless comets, stars, and galaxies, mostly done in white, but with some shades of light blue or the occasional gold thrown in. In some places, the stars were big, five-pointed things, like one might expect a child to draw, but in others, there were vast, captivating nebulae and expansive bands of stars that almost seemed to be moving if you looked at them for any long period of time. Yes, this would do just fine for me.

Giving a final look around the room - a search which also allowed me to locate and acquire a towel, something I'd be needing quite badly - to make sure nobody was watching, I gave a quiet gulp, moved into a corner, and set about undressing. Even my scarf was hard to remove, soaked as it was, but soon I'd managed to finally free myself from the tightly clinging - not to mention heavy - confines of my clothes. Not wanting to stand around in my birthday suit any longer than I had to, however, I frantically toweled myself off so as not to drench a second outfit, then slid into the refreshing warmth of my new pajamas. Buttoning up the shirt - although I left the top button unfastened despite my better judgement, as I didn't particularly like the feeling of the tight collar around my throat - I glanced at my image in a small mirror on the desk.

The nightclothes fit me rather snugly, if tightly, hugging close to my body like a comforting blanket. This was both good and bad - good because it meant that I was now very warm, a feeling I had greatly missed during the rainstorm, and bad because it meant that I was essentially wearing a form fitting garment, and although thankfully it was thick enough that no details showed through its cloth, I found even my rather average, even childlike shape shown and magnified to the point that I was rather embarrassed just seeing myself, let alone contemplating the eyes of the others outside. But, sadly, this garment was the only one I had found that wasn't some kind of dress or skirt, and considering my current shortage of unmentionables, I'd rather not risk such attire, considering the breeze outside and my propensity to fall over. Still, looking myself over again, I couldn't help but fear the stares I knew I would get once I left the cabin. The legs of the pants were rather short, cutting off just above my ankles but framing my legs and waist so tightly that I might as well have still been wearing the thigh-high stockings I'd had on before without any skirt to at least partially cover them! Worse yet, the collar was so tight when fully buttoned that it nearly choked me - not to mention making my outline fully visible - and yet loose enough when left partially undone that it slipped down almost past my shoulders, not only revealing them but also giving an admittedly small but nonetheless existent window down my front, whilst also causing the wrist-length sleeves to nearly cover my hands completely! I was beginning to consider changing back into my other clothes, but the warmth of this new outfit, and the memory of how they had clung to my body in just an embarrassing a manner, united to convince me otherwise. Well, I supposed, there was no other choice. I just hoped they wouldn't stare...

Within a minute or so, I'd managed to at least hang up my old clothes on an old bracing for a long-since fallen lamp, and had found a pair of sandals to protect my feet from the splinters that doubtless studded the old, rotten deck. Donning these, I took a deep breath to brace myself for the eyes of those outside, and then, I opened the door, and half-walked, half-shuffled out, painfully aware of the red flush that had already returned to my face as I glanced about.

To my surprise and relief, however, nobody really seemed to notice me. Ceridwen and Eric seemed to be engaged in conversation, and Eden - now changed into an evening outfit of his own, one which admittedly revived the old urge to glomp him on the spot - was currently rolling about on the deck alongside the dog, Xander, playing some sort of undefined game that seemed to me to be some kind of cross between wrestling and tag. I gave a quiet giggle as the energetic beast bounded on top of him, sending both of them falling to the ground in a laughing, barking heap.

"Hey, Cleo! Come play!" The suddenly enthusiastic boy called with a smile. In an instant, my trepidation and embarrassment evaporated, and I returned the happy grin, heading towards the two of them almost before the words were out of his mouth. What had I been thinking? These people were still my friends, even if they didn't remember me. I shouldn't have been embarrassed around them one bit! Even if they didn't want to welcome Marie back for her inadequacies, they were still kind, good people, and would surely give a fair chance to Cleo, would they not? There was nothing to be afraid of in their company.

Several sharp, wracking coughs snapped me to attention, and I was by the side of the one who uttered them in an instant. Eden was on his side, covering his mouth as a minor fit shook his body. Quickly, I crouched down on my haunches beside him, looking worriedly at him as the fit ended, and reaching out my hand to help him to a more comfortable seated posture. Unlike the envy I had felt only a few moments before toward Ceridwen for being able to watch over Eden, I was no longer thinking for my own sake. Right now, he had my full attention, not as a rejected friend who wanted to be close to him again out of selfishness, but as a simple, caring girl who just wanted to make sure he was alright.

"Are you alright?" I asked, concern evident in my voice. "Even if you're in dry clothes, the deck is still wet from that storm, and it's still pretty cold out. If you're feeling sick, maybe you should head inside where it's warm?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Eden & Eric


The Merry-Go-Round of Life

"Are you alright?" He heard and looked at her, Cleo, with a questioning look. She seemed pretty worried, like Ceridwen had been earlier. "Even if you're in dry clothes, the deck is still wet from that storm, and it's still pretty cold out. If you're feeling sick, maybe you should head inside where it's warm?" She received a frown. He didn't want to go inside! It was fun out here, playing with Xander, so why should he want to go inside? This girl was making no sense to him, but then he sneezed again, quietly, before shaking his head vigourously. He looked around, maybe for an excuse, but he found none.

Instead, Eden took the girl's hand softly and loosely, the way you would hold a noble's hand, and brought it against his chest. "My heart is beating fine, see? I don't feel sick." He looked at her, puzzled. To him, being sick and being ill were two completely different things and no matter what anyone tried to explain to him, he kept true to his thoughts. He turned over so he was sitting cross-legged with his back to her. For a second, it may have seemed like he was angry at her suggestion to settle down and stay in the warmth of the ship. He had his dressing gown, so he was warm enough, and even if he did get chills every now and again when the wind blew or shivered when he truly felt the cold, his body was burning to him and he didn't want to go anywhere near warmth since he already felt like melting into a pile of Am Cailltian mush. 

Suddenly, he tipped his body back so he was leaning on her thighs, forcing her to inevitably lose her balance on her haunches so she was just sitting on the floor, resting on her calves. He looked her in the eye, maybe looking a bit shocked as to how cold she felt compared to him. He then relaxed, reached his hands towards the sky childishly, reaching for a star. His hands made grabby motions before he felt something against his chest. 

When he looked down, he only saw Xander resting his head on his owner's chest, looking at him with expectant eyes. He patted Xander on the head softly and the dog barked quietly, contently. Eden looked at the sky, adorned with stars and his eyes became wide and wondering, asking a million questions with one look. His eyes searched the girl's face again, as if asking those questions with his eyes. "What would you do if you could fly?" he said slowly, mostly as a rhetorical question before standing up suddenly, maybe a bit too suddenly. Eden stumbled slightly, before gaining his step and leaning down to pull her up with her hands. 

"Xander, hunt!" he said, and Xander put his head on the floor. "Come on." Eden ran, tugging the girl along with him while making sure his footsteps were quiet. He saw a barrel and quickly ran towards it, pulling Cleo down with him as he hid behind it. He barked, sounding the signal and heard a bark back. He held his breath as he heard paws hitting the ground slowly, before he heard sniffing. 

Xander pitter-pattered across the ground, before peeking around the barrel. The dog bounded happily at his discovery and then barked a long bark. "Not the Xander-beam!" Eden said, pushing Cleo out of the 'line of fire' softly while faking a mortal wound. He grabbed his stomach while forming his hand as a gun shakily and aimed, making a shooting noise. Xander instantly played dead, falling on the ground with a howl.

The two faked dead for a few seconds, and you had to give them points for acting, but they both of them shot up. The dog trotted up to his owner, who was feeling kind of woozy, and licked his face. "We don't usually play Hunt with other people." His voice was softer than before and he felt a separate set of eyes on him. He didn't really have to turn to tell who it was, so he instead concentrated on petting Xander. All the running around had left him out of breath and he sighed out heavily, then yawned loudly.

Will to Live

The boy got up onto his knees and reached up towards the stars again, pretending to catch one and then proceed to eat it with a quiet laugh. Just as he smiled, his vision blurred suddenly, like a radio which hadn't connected properly. He shut them tightly as a reflex and lost his balance. "Ah." he muttered. When he opened his eyes, he saw skin and a collar, a rather spacey dark blue one at that. 

Eden managed to work out what had happened. For the billionth time he'd tumbled into the poor girl. His eyes were half open as he realised he was in his pyjamas. Okay, so he didn't mind making contact with people while in his pyjamas, but when it was so sudden, so unexpected like this. His face went a vivid shade of red and he shook like a leaf as he covered his mouth, failing at keeping the soft whimper inside. He tried to get up but his body had hit the point of exhaustion, something which, surprisingly, happen to him quite often. Hence why the boy always sleeps on the floor. He removed his hands from his mouth and felt his overheated breath echoing back from the girl's skin. "I'm sorry." His voice was meek and apologetic. As the clutches of sleep began to lure him into slumber, he repeated the apology a few times while wrapping his arms around the girl and nuzzling into her neck. Within about a minute, Eric was calling Eden's name softly. No reaction, other than a tired mumble asking "Am I a bird, brother?" and Eric's eyes widened. He never called him brother, not anymore. The shock passed on, however, and he pulled Eden off the poor girl, again.

The older brother mumbled almost incoherent nonsense, though Eric was sure he heard "I want my Marie." incredibly softly. Since they were quite a distance from Cleo now, it was impossible for her to hear. In fact, he could barely make out the words himself and Eden was right against his ear. Ignoring him, Eric proceeded to tuck him into the bed of one of the cabins, the one he'd seen Eden go into earlier, and tucked him under the covers. 

"Nighty night." Eric said, about to leave. He did a quick detour and tucked all of Eden's hair into a hair bobble, one he hand on his wrist for his own hair, like the older brother did every evening as he started to wind down. He emerged from the cabins less that two minutes after he went in and smiled. "Sleeping beauty has entered her endless slumber!" before adding "You two should too."

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Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel
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BGM: Sakutarou's Adventure

"Your heart is still beating," I affirmed, giving a slight nod as I gazed intently at Eden, as though I had just revealed a great mystery of life. As he placed my hand gently against his chest, I could feel not only the steady thumping of his heart, but also the slow rising and falling of his form as he breathed. I wasn't sure whether or not the fact that his heart was still beating methodically meant that he was perfectly alright, but he seemed very insistent of that fact, and I trusted Eden to know his own body well enough to recognize when something was wrong, so I decided to let the matter drop, instead lowering my hand as he turned sharply around, facing away from me as though upset. For a moment, I stopped, wondering what I should say as I began to fear that I might have only angered him. Perhaps my concern had been misinterpreted as condescension? I didn't want to hurt Eden's feelings, surely not!

To my surprise, however, Eden suddenly leaned back, pillowing his head quite contentedly against my legs as I tipped backwards, taken by surprise by the sudden flurry of movement. Fortunately, I managed to seat myself on a small, and thankfully quite dry barrel, which had been protected from the storm by a small overhang from beneath which it had since rolled out, doubtless shaken loose by the impact of our landing on the island - or at least, I assumed it was an island - beach. Lowering my legs to a more comfortable seated position, I found that Eden had suddenly decided to use me as a pillow without consulting me - characteristic of him, but nonetheless rather embarrassing, considering his soft head was now, thanks to my own attempts to seat myself comfortably rather than fall on the wet deck, placed gently upon my lap, his gaze turned back to stare up at me with an ever so slight grin. Well, at least he wasn't mad. That was good. But, on the other hand, this position made me feel rather uncomfortable, and I could already feel the heat beginning to rise to my face.

As he reached for the sky as though aiming to snatch up a star, the excitable Xander returned as always, and began to beg his owner for attention until it was finally given, and the dog gave a contented bark as Eden patted him gingerly on the head. But, to my surprise, I found Eden's curious gaze once more wandering upward, as he stared into my eyes as though he would read from my soul itself.

"What would you do if you could fly?" He asked at last. It was an interesting question, one I had pondered many times myself. Although conversations such as this had always ended with me being labeled as strange, I didn't feel inhibited by that when the one to whom I spoke was one I was so close to. So, after a few seconds of thought, I gave a simple, honest answer.

"I don't know. I tried to learn to fly, once, but it was very hard, and no matter how many different methods I tried, I still couldn't figure out how to violate gravity. It's a shame, really. I think flying would be fun. And convenient. You could go places if you could fly." This answer seemed to satisfy Eden, for he simply stood up, extending his hands to help me do the same after a brief period of stumbling about. I accepted the gesture, gasping his small, warm hands tightly and rising almost immediately to my feet. Even though Eden was rather small, so was I, meaning he had very little trouble helping me up, something which somehow made him seem strong and sturdy despite his diminutive and clumsy nature. I gave a slight smile as I thought this. Eden was, after all, someone you could rely upon, no matter what, and having this affirmed, even in such a roundabout way, made me feel a little proud. I didn't really know what there was for me to be proud of. Perhaps that I was his friend, something many people couldn't claim to be? It didn't really matter. Eden was Eden, I was Cleo, and we were finally together again at last. That was all I needed to be happy, right now.

"Xander, hunt!" The command, and the ensuing struggle to maintain my balance as Eden quickly led me to hide behind a small barrel much like the one I had been sitting on a moment before, brought me back to the present. Once we were safely hidden, Eden gave a loud bark, and a response quickly followed from across the deck. So this must have been the game that Eden wanted me to play with him. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing, but when my fellow tensed up and crouched down, attempting to hide from the wily hound as he sniffed us out and located us, inspired me to do the same despite my ignorance. And, as Eden gave a cry and warning and knocked me to the side, I willingly followed through with the act, doing my best to leap out of the way of the "attack," and giving a quiet gasp, much like the heroine of some kind of action tale, as I watched Eden slowly fall, miming his own death after "shooting" the one who had "slain" him. There was a magic in games like this, and now that I had been invited into Eden's fantasy battle, I did my very best to act out the part, not wanting to fail as a companion, no matter what might be going on. "We don't usually play Hunt with other people," he had explained, and so I hoped to do justice to the honor I had been given of playing it with him, however briefly.

A moment later, the two "combatants" rose to a seated position in a heartbeat, and as Xander began playfully licking Eden, the boy once more weakly reached up as though he would grasp the stars. In that instant, I found myself adding my own fantasy to his endeavor, as though our two minds wishing in accord would be enough to tear one of those lights down from far-off heaven and place it safely within his grasp. I already knew that my own magic would not be enough to do such a thing without preparation, but it felt like I was doing the right thing, so I made my wish anyway.

BGM: Core

I wasn't surprised when Eden's hand fell empty to his side. I don't suppose I had honestly expected him to grasp hold of one of the stars for which he reached out. But, on the other hand, in a moment, I realized how limp and fragile that arm was as its owner gave a quiet murmur and shut his eyes, beginning to tilt forward as though deprived of the strength to hold himself up any longer. I might have felt insulted that Eden had lied to me about being alright, since he obviously wasn't, but on the other hand, I was too worried for his safety to care about such things right now. In the blink of an eye, I was by his side, kneeling next to him and catching him before he could fall. I felt his form collapse gently against me, like an oversized doll that had fallen from its shelf. I was half embracing him, with my arms wrapped underneath his own and catching onto him as tenderly as I could, covering him and catching his fall like a human-shaped net. I felt his cheek pressing against my bare shoulder, using me much more literally now as a pillow than he had done before. It was then that I realized exactly how embarrassing this position was. Considering the fact that my shirt's collar was sagging somewhat, his face was now brushing up against bare flesh. As his head was pillowed snugly against my shoulder and across my collarbone, he was now nestled against my form just above the hollow of my chest - a position that was possibly even more intimate, and hence even more awkward than my initial collision with him earlier that afternoon. I could feel his breath down the front of my shirt, and, even though his eyes seemed heavily closed by fatigue, I couldn't help but feel utterly ashamed to have this sort of thing happening to me yet again. As Eden flushed a brighter shade of red than myself, however, and began to quiver and shake, whimpering a quiet apology over and over again, I couldn't help but be confused. He couldn't have been embarrassed, could he? His expression hadn't even changed all the other times we'd ended up in positions like this, and he'd never seemed so vulnerable then, either. Maybe... was he remembering the last time he'd fallen on me and apologizing because he thought that he'd made me feel bad? The Eden I remembered was nice enough to do that, although I didn't recall him being quite so socially apt. But, on the other hand, that was just about the only reason I could think of that he would be embarrassed: for my sake.

If that was the case, then if I pulled away from him, or recoiled in any way, it would no doubt make him feel guilty, wouldn't it? Even if it felt really embarrassing to be like this, something told me not to move. I'd much rather be ashamed myself than cause Eden to feel guilty for my sake. I didn't realize exactly how wrong my deduction was until much later, and thus decided to act upon it. So, I smiled as reassuringly as I could, allowing him to wrap his arms around me like I was his own personal security blanket, and spoke as kindly as I could, not wanting to keep him from falling asleep, but wanting him to know that it was all fine.

"It's alright," I said, some of my uncertainty showing through into my speech, although I did not let this deter me. "Everything's okay. Don't be worried, just go to sleep," I continued, trying to calm the trembling form that clung tightly to me, a task that seemed as daunting as calming the storm that had buffeted our boat not an hour previously. But, I didn't give up. Quite the contrary, actually. Although it might have just been that old urge to which I frequently almost fell prey, I decided to go for broke. So, wrapping my arms the rest of the way around Eden, I gave him the hug I'd always been tempted to, raising one hand to his head and patting it gently, trying to convey an image of calmness and reassurance against whatever it was that was scaring him and hoping that he didn't see the blush on my face or the nervous light in my eyes.

By the time Eric came to retrieve his brother, Eden was almost soundly asleep, his nervous trembling having largely subsided. As I gingerly relinquished the slumbering boy, allowing Eric to pick him up and carry him away, a few faint and incoherent mutterings reached my ears, such as "Am I a bird, brother?" but I didn't much concern myself with them. Instead, I heaved a sigh of relief, brushing at my face with my hands as though it would somehow wipe away the scarlet staining my countenance. It had felt like the weight of Eden's head against my chest had been enough to force all the air from my lungs, and I was only just now recovering the breath that my tense, nervous mindset had taken from me. But, somehow, I felt glad. Perhaps I was satisfied that I had been able to reach out to and help Eden after all? Even though he didn't recognize me, perhaps I was relieved to know that he would still reach out to me? I didn't really understand why at the time, but even though it had been embarrassing, I simply felt better for having been so close to Eden.

As Eric returned and suggested that I get some rest, I simply nodded and complied, leaving both him and Ceridwen with a simple goodnight. I had a lot of things on my mind as I slipped into my cabin, gently closing the door behind me and seating myself on the bed, too preoccupied to lie down and succumb to sleep quite yet...

(BTW, don't timeskip to morning once Ceridwen and Eric retire to their cabins, please. I have one more thing planned for Cleo to do before the night's over, in the vein of the whole awkwardness that's going on.

Also, does anyone else find it funny that the interactions between two introverted hikkikomoris, both of whom are obsessed with a particular strange thing and hence very... unusual people... can be so D'AWWWWW worthy?)

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eric Evernalt Character Portrait: Eden Evernalt Character Portrait: Marie "Cleo" Cleophel Character Portrait: Ceridwen Nox
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Ceridwen


She simply stood up from where she’d slid down next to Eden after he’d seemingly collapsed, and looked on at her old friends as they all got along and played, of course, Eden’s coughing and wheezing worried her, but Marie seemed to have things handled well enough. There was no reason for her to react so thoughtlessly again. Acting as she did was, it was a careless and tactless move to make, it showed that she did indeed still care very much for these people, her actions expressed a level of concern for them that only a close friend should have. She was suppose to act the part of a stranger, but maybe that wasn’t going to work out so well for her like she thought it would before. . . . If she couldn’t keep up on such a simple ruse for more than twenty minutes, what hope was there for her to maintain it for who knew how long?

Being trapped with the people who were so important to her like this for so long . . . and having to act like she was just a simple stranger to them was something that was going to be more than hard, it was going to be harder than almost everything she’d done in her life. Honestly, there was such a part of her that wanted to just let it go, to give up feigning and spout out the truth like a chatter monkey, even if it made her sound like she was insane . . . at least she’d not have to act. Maybe that’s what she should’ve just done from the start. Would that have been easier . . . ?

Ceridwen could only sigh to herself, letting her head tip downward as a weight in her chest clasped itself to her heart, and descended into her stomach, making her feel ill. What was she doing? Really, what was she doing? What possessed her to think that lying and acting like a stranger to everyone was a good move? It seemed like it were normal, considering how everyone else was regarding one another. . . . Marie was going by Cleo, Eric didn’t seem to remember anything, and Eden almost seemed to remember things, he was acting like he knew something more but wasn’t letting on at all, just maintaining a ruse . . . maybe just like herself. Though, that wouldn’t be much of a shock.

So much had happened, so much had changed, and yet, something still felt the same.

The atmosphere here, so much still felt the same for some reason, and that might’ve been just more painful than anything else could’ve been for her. Maybe if everything felt different, the atmosphere were different from when they had been younger, then things wouldn’t feel like this, it wouldn’t be hard, and it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe her heart wouldn’t be dragged into the depths of her stomach. Acting like a stranger was probably a useless tactic given how she’s reacted to Eden before, she’d even torn holes in her tights when she slid to a stop to check on him for goodness’ sake.

A stranger didn’t do that. Even if they were concerned for the wellbeing of another, their approach was cautious, careful. Hers had been anything but that. She’d thrown all reason to the wind and just acted, even with her reputation at school for being crazy and insane at times, even how she’d responded to that wasn’t reasonable.

Leaning up against the tree behind her, Ceridwen’s damp hair slid over her shoulder like a curtain, and hid her face. The girl drew her own lavender eyes to the side and looked at it loose; there were waves in it thanks to the near constant braid she kept in it, and it’s silvery coloring caught hold of the rising moon, and it made it glimmer like starlight. Her hair was always so weird, she never understood how she’d come to be caught with silver hair and eyes the color of lavender; it wasn’t normal, and her skin on top of that was so pale, nearly translucent. In a way though, the lightly colored features suited her, they made her stand out, and they fit in with how she acted. They were just a piece of what made her, her.

Glancing back up, Ceridwen watched as Eden was pulled away and off of Marie, again, by Eric and hauled into the cabin he’d be sharing with his brother. He’d fallen asleep already, not much of a surprise really, the day’s events were . . . tiresome to say the least. Suddenly being thrust out to stormy sea on a beached ship that had a tree growing out of its middle, and that was rotting away. . . . Then winding up beached, yet again, on an island that seemed locked away from the outside world, with sand that looked like crushed up sapphire. Most anyone would be tired from all this, and the cold air didn’t help either, it didn’t help anyone when they were soaked to the bone before. As it looked, everyone but herself had gone and changed into dry clothing found in the cabins of the ship.

She was always late to the game, wasn’t she? That was something that would probably never change. . . . She was a watcher it seemed, always destined to step into something later on than everyone else did, and she’d rarely ever be the one to act first. Whether that was by habit, or from fear, Ceridwen didn’t know. But it was something she needed to change, that was for certain.

If not for herself, for her once-friends. If they remembered more than they were letting on or not, or whatever the situation, acting cautious might not be the best way for her to go. She might wind up coming off as if she were insane or something, beginning with them again by pretending to not know them, then suddenly just going ahead knowing so much more than she should’ve. . . . That may well have been what she just needed to do, no matter how it made her look. Even if she wanted to start over with everyone, to become friends with them as they were now—for their own sakes, that could not be what was right. The situation at hand wasn’t necessarily about what she wanted, was it? The four of them were caught up in something they probably didn’t understand, together, again. What dangers they might face were unknown, what they might have to do in order to get by . . . whatever had caused this to happen now. . . . The things she might want, they didn’t really matter did they?

No, they don’t. Rii’s being selfish again, first she was selfish by clinging onto her memories too much all these past years, and now she’s doing it again by lying and pretending that she doesn’t remember anything. Even if she’s blamed or thought of as insane for anything in the past, or now, that shouldn’t matter to her. Rii needs to not be so . . . self-interested. she sighed, drawing her eyes up to the clear skies above. Starting now, she has to throw away the notion of being a stranger, and she has to act true to her memories, she has to look out for the best interests of everyone, not herself.

"Sleeping beauty has entered her endless slumber!" before adding "You two should too." Eric stirred her from her thoughts, and her gaze came back down from the stars above the island, and to him.

All she could do was offer a simple smile at his comment, and his suggestion of sleeping herself. Honestly, she didn’t really want to sleep, she probably should’ve been tired, but she wasn’t not with everything that had happened and what her mind was caught on. . . . Eden was out like a light, which was a good thing, he needed his sleep, it sounded like he was getting a cold or something beforehand.

Ceridwen simply shook her head to the notion of trying to conk out now, before standing away from the tree behind her and setting her hands to her loose and damp hair, which was drying in finger waves thanks to the braid she’d had it in before it got soaked. . . . Part of her was ready to go ahead and just put it back up, but another part of her felt against the idea since it was wet with salt water, and that would just leave it gross later on. . . . It was while Marie gave a simple nod to both Ceridwen and Eric and headed off to bed herself, that Ceridwen gave out a loud and drawn out sigh before just seating herself where she’d been standing before.

It was still cold out, and her clothing was damp, but sleep was just . . . she didn’t want that now! Her brain was just too active, and too much had happened for it to not be.

So, it was here she sat now, outside and alone with Eric, the one of her three once-friends who didn’t seem to remember anything from the past unlike the others, but who knew her from their idle chatter at school. In a way; that might’ve been irony . . . one of the three did know her, but he didn’t seem to remember the past, didn’t remember their interactions or the friendship they’d had as kids when those times were so much more important than the shallow ones of the present.

Rii supposes that’s Time just being mean to us again for no good reason. she thought as she began to run her finger through her hair, trying to rid it of any tangles that might have trying to form there as it dried. Not knowing what else to do, Ceridwen spoke up, “Well . . . Rii guesses that we won’t be attending school tomorrow; looks like that Math test she’d been worrying over wasn’t something she needed to be so concerned about, huh?” she said, her voice a bit nervous.

Then though, there was another sigh from her. “Honestly, Rii just isn’t ready to try and sleep yet. She probably sounds like a difficult little child, refusing sleep, like she’s trying to avoid her bedtime, or is fighting it while sick because she’s done enough of it for a while, even if her body might need more rest. . . .” she prattled on, blankly staring off in the distance, vaguely reminiscing upon her own childhood with the last bit of her words there. Still running her fingers through her hand, Ceridwen finally moved her gaze onto Eric, the smile gone from her face, “So . . . does Eric know if Eden is going to be okay? He sounded like he was getting sick before?” The concern that laced her voice with this was evident enough, and all traces of her stranger-act was gone.