Luz Noceda (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
imaglyphwitch) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deercountry2021-09-03 04:50 pm
imaglyphwitch) wrote in deercountry2021-09-03 04:50 pm
Entry tags:
Promises Promises/Insomnia
Who: Luz and you!
What: Accepting loss and dealing with NEW problems (yay)?
When: The first week of September
Where: Check prompts for locations!
A- Cellar Door
Luz would have said she was being needless emo. After all, there was rainfall here and she was depressed, so she figured being here would match her mood. How more dramatic did you have to be? But Luz wasn't in laughing mood, and it was everything she felt like right now.
Margot wasn't coming. She knew that now, she accepted it, and accepting that meant everything else that came with it. Margot was back in her world, robbed of her ability to think and reason as a person, back to her basic instincts as a wolf. No more playing and late night talks. No more huddles with her adopted sister. No more gardening. She wouldn't even remember Luz when she was there. It would be like she was never with Luz at all.
But Luz would remember. She'd remember and know that Margot wasn't just some person who wandered and left the dream. She was the sister she never had, the girl who'd share a room with her and helped her paint it and watched Eda cook as they eagerly awaited being fed and what the next day would bring.
She'd remember, and now, in the rain, she could at least cry with her hood up, and she'd be as much a passerby as anyone. Just some shadow person passing, weeping about something or other.
Or so she thought anyway.
B- Cassandra (The Disaster House)
Luz has had some time to think, and it was finally time for her to head to the place that would be her home. It's be nice, honestly, to have a place where there were more people her age, she reasoned. Obviously living with Eda and Margot had been ideal, and after that it had been the Doctors and Vira Lorr. Now she was at a new place, and a new place required a completely new way of living and, most obvious of all, would be redecorating her new place, which was the attic upstairs.
If you were visiting or a resident yourself, you'd see Luz busy at work already trying to make this place her own. There were already several stuffed animals, although Trenchwood seemed to have it's own ideas of what was cute, so the various creatures might be a bit off putting. There were several easels in the corner, one notably a wolf friend she was missing as well as one with various witches: Azura, Miss Hardbroom and of course her beloved Eda. The curtains were pulled back and there was air rushing in, so Luz was having a bit of trouble keeping all the papers from flying away.
"Darn it! This is the fifth time!"
C- Disaster House- I don't need sleep, I need clean!
Was Luz getting a little unhinged because of her recent depression? Was she just overcompensating somehow? It was hard to tell. What one could SEE, however, was that it was the dead of night and Luz was not at all sleeping, but was instead intent on cleaning the disaster house, half mumbling to herself as she did so.
"I could tackle the living quarters, got to arrange the skulls. I don't want to get to the garden because I'll be crying again, or the greenhouse because I could probably die, or get poisoned. No good. Not going into Fern's room yet, I'll definitely die. The kitchen, YEAH! That sounds perfect!"
She had to go to the bathroom first.
"ARGH! WHY IS THERE A HOLE HERE?! VARIAN! THEY'RE JUST BATHROOMS!"
D - Drifting into Dreamspace
So after finally "convinced" to try and get some sleep, Luz finally had settled down, her omen (that was new) giving her a reproachful stare.
"I promise, I'll try!" Luz insisted, though Tempest did not look convinced. Luz blew a raspberry at the wolf and added, "thanks, you're the best" and closed her eyes, attempting to drift off. She'd been trying to do this the past few days, and doubted anything was going to happen, but figured if she couldn't sleep, she'd maybe go to the tower and get some reading done.
However, she DID drift off, just not in the way she though. For a moment, she felt a wave of color pass over her, and she figured that she was finally nodding off, but instead of that she felt light. She exhaled and felt herself leave, and for a moment, she was assuming she was unconscious.
But it was a strange feeling. She opened her eyes, and realized she was very much not awake, not quite. She was instead floating, drifting quietly down the attic steps and then out the door. She should have been freaking out, but her body felt so tired, and whatever was happening now felt NOTHING like that.
A passing though occurred to her. Maybe I should try these lamp location thingies out.
But where would she wind up?
What: Accepting loss and dealing with NEW problems (yay)?
When: The first week of September
Where: Check prompts for locations!
A- Cellar Door
Luz would have said she was being needless emo. After all, there was rainfall here and she was depressed, so she figured being here would match her mood. How more dramatic did you have to be? But Luz wasn't in laughing mood, and it was everything she felt like right now.
Margot wasn't coming. She knew that now, she accepted it, and accepting that meant everything else that came with it. Margot was back in her world, robbed of her ability to think and reason as a person, back to her basic instincts as a wolf. No more playing and late night talks. No more huddles with her adopted sister. No more gardening. She wouldn't even remember Luz when she was there. It would be like she was never with Luz at all.
But Luz would remember. She'd remember and know that Margot wasn't just some person who wandered and left the dream. She was the sister she never had, the girl who'd share a room with her and helped her paint it and watched Eda cook as they eagerly awaited being fed and what the next day would bring.
She'd remember, and now, in the rain, she could at least cry with her hood up, and she'd be as much a passerby as anyone. Just some shadow person passing, weeping about something or other.
Or so she thought anyway.
B- Cassandra (The Disaster House)
Luz has had some time to think, and it was finally time for her to head to the place that would be her home. It's be nice, honestly, to have a place where there were more people her age, she reasoned. Obviously living with Eda and Margot had been ideal, and after that it had been the Doctors and Vira Lorr. Now she was at a new place, and a new place required a completely new way of living and, most obvious of all, would be redecorating her new place, which was the attic upstairs.
If you were visiting or a resident yourself, you'd see Luz busy at work already trying to make this place her own. There were already several stuffed animals, although Trenchwood seemed to have it's own ideas of what was cute, so the various creatures might be a bit off putting. There were several easels in the corner, one notably a wolf friend she was missing as well as one with various witches: Azura, Miss Hardbroom and of course her beloved Eda. The curtains were pulled back and there was air rushing in, so Luz was having a bit of trouble keeping all the papers from flying away.
"Darn it! This is the fifth time!"
C- Disaster House- I don't need sleep, I need clean!
Was Luz getting a little unhinged because of her recent depression? Was she just overcompensating somehow? It was hard to tell. What one could SEE, however, was that it was the dead of night and Luz was not at all sleeping, but was instead intent on cleaning the disaster house, half mumbling to herself as she did so.
"I could tackle the living quarters, got to arrange the skulls. I don't want to get to the garden because I'll be crying again, or the greenhouse because I could probably die, or get poisoned. No good. Not going into Fern's room yet, I'll definitely die. The kitchen, YEAH! That sounds perfect!"
She had to go to the bathroom first.
"ARGH! WHY IS THERE A HOLE HERE?! VARIAN! THEY'RE JUST BATHROOMS!"
D - Drifting into Dreamspace
So after finally "convinced" to try and get some sleep, Luz finally had settled down, her omen (that was new) giving her a reproachful stare.
"I promise, I'll try!" Luz insisted, though Tempest did not look convinced. Luz blew a raspberry at the wolf and added, "thanks, you're the best" and closed her eyes, attempting to drift off. She'd been trying to do this the past few days, and doubted anything was going to happen, but figured if she couldn't sleep, she'd maybe go to the tower and get some reading done.
However, she DID drift off, just not in the way she though. For a moment, she felt a wave of color pass over her, and she figured that she was finally nodding off, but instead of that she felt light. She exhaled and felt herself leave, and for a moment, she was assuming she was unconscious.
But it was a strange feeling. She opened her eyes, and realized she was very much not awake, not quite. She was instead floating, drifting quietly down the attic steps and then out the door. She should have been freaking out, but her body felt so tired, and whatever was happening now felt NOTHING like that.
A passing though occurred to her. Maybe I should try these lamp location thingies out.
But where would she wind up?
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She had to do this wherever she lived, just so things felt manageable. Messiness was not something Luz wanted in her live, especially since things were already like this for everyone. Luz was also trying not to admit cleaning Fern's room was going to be her favorite one.
"Why do you think that is?"
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"At first I thought it was the whole 'he's magic' now," Fern explains. "He's always been more... magic-adjacent? But he preferred using science for everything. Now he's got powers that science can't explain, and it's rough on him."
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Luz loves her house and housemates, you don't even have to twist her arm there.
"Oh, right, yeah, that's definitely going to be rough, especially with his feelings on magic. I get it too: if you're not magical, you cans still be super useful and smart, but people like the idea of magic fixing everything. Now he has it without his consent, and he's got to figure out how to use it. That'll be rough on anyone."
Luz was privately wondering how she was going to manage herself, given that magic was something she had to work hard on and was now accessing strange magic she knew nothing about. It made her feel a little less special.
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Varian's situation is definitely a rough one, and Fern hates that he can't be of more help. "Exactly. I don't think he's ever wanted magic himself. If he had the choice I think he'd stay magicless." It's awful that he never had that choice, and that could be why he's having such a hard time.
At any rate, he shakes his head. "Well, we'll get it figured out. We have to." He glances around at the attic. "Wanna take a break from this and go check out that creepy tree?"
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"Oh ho ho ho ho!" Luz said, with the
"Oh ho ho ho ho!" Luz said, with the <a href="https://gifer.com/en/DWFD" correct gesture</a> and everything. "I will make you a portrait worth saving!"
She nodded. "No, he would stay magicless, and I don't blame him. I can do magic, but I sincerely wanted to and studied to get good at it, just like Varian goes after science. Varian never needed magic. But I'll do my best to help ease him into it. I don't want him feeling limited, he's already really cool in his own way."
She grinned. "We should <i>totally</i> check out that creepy tree! Lead the way, dude!"
Definitely adopting some of Fern's phrasing.
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To some people, a mural might be a chore especially since she had already agreed to help Luca paint. To Luz though, this was a way to express herself, and she relished it.
"No, I don't think he'd choose it either. Varian has always been pretty competent and a super genius without magic. But don't worry: I'll help him through it however I can! We're housemates now, so no way I'd let him struggle by himself!"
And now you're talking right up Luz's alley. "We should totally check out that creepy tree!"
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"Good, 'cause I think he'll need all the help he can get." Having more than one person in the house who's used to magic should help out a ton.
He grins at her enthusiasm, and turns to head back down to the second floor. "Great, let's go then. Maybe we'll find out some super secret info from it."
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"I agree. I'll make sure that he doesn't go into the weeds too much, if you'll excuse the expression."
Luz nodded, and went upstairs to get her staff and the witches' cloak. Luck favored the prepared, after all.
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"Hah, you're excused," he says. "I'll wait for you down on the porch."
Since he's pretty much ready to go he'll head down there and hang out while she grabs her stuff.
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"All right! Be there in a minute!"
Luz ran back down and had her cloak on.
"Want to ride on the staff?"
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"Great! It'll be way easier to spot it from the skies anyway!"
Once Fern hopped on Luz would ascend to a decent twenty five-ish feet off the ground and moved at a fairly steady speed, since she was still unsure of the place and didn't want to miss it.
"Which way do we head?"
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He looks around, trying to recognize the rooftops, before pointing south-eastward. "That-a-way. Pretty sure it was over there, at least."
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"I see it!"
Luz lowered them down, and then were at the tree, which towered above them and looked to be fat with blood, a fair bit pooling at the root out of hollows around the base. Despite this the tree itself was the color of white birch, with various branches at the top protruding out into smaller branches and their ends.
Luz stared at the tree, then at Fern. "There's supposed to be a sanctuary under the tree. We can visit it, or we can stay out here. What do you think?"
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When they arrive at the tree he's hit with a weird, overwhelming uncertainty, something he immediately chalks up to them visiting a creepy giant blood tree with a few Disciples surrounding it, praying to it. Fern isn't good with religion or rituals, especially not one involving possibly man-eating tree things. He tightens his grip on Luz and the staff, until they're at the ground.
Then he slides off the staff, unconsciously reaching up to rub at his right upper arm. Leaving would be his preference, though he can't quite explain why, so against his common sense he decides they should just plow forward. "Might as well check the sanctuary out, first. Maybe there's something important down there we should know about."
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"A little different from what you expected, right? Me too. But I don't want to leave, not yet. Maybe it's my blood, but...I feel like we need to get into the root of the tree, see what it's about. From what I read, it's supposed to be a place that people go to fight off some of the corruption."
There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on blood that Luz wasn't sure she was comfortable with, but either way she wanted to see what else they could find. Taking Fern's hand, Luz took a breath and stepped inside.
-
She immediately had to shield her eyes. The winding steps downward were lit by paleblood stones, and they were bright, just enough to be startling at first but once your eyes adjusted you realized it really didn't hurt. She walked down with Fern, and soon they came to an outstretched room that displayed several statues that seemed to depict Pthumerians, one of which Luz lingered on for a moment. It was Doorway, and Luz put a finger to the statue a moment, right at where the flowers blossomed on her shoulder.
There was a dias in the middle of the room, and there were small enclosures that looked to be places for people to sit and meditate. Luz looked over at Fern.
"Looks like don't call it a sanctuary for nothing."
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His eyes adjust quick enough, and it takes a lot of willpower to not poke at the paleblood stones. Those things are weird, okay. This whole situation is weird, but it could also be an indication that it's good that Luz, someone with this kind of blood, is here. Maybe the whole blood thing gives her a unique connection that will help them? At the very least, chances are she'll be more alert than he is - being inside this creepy tree is really wigging him out and making it hard to concentrate. It means he doesn't give much attention to the statues, though when he sees one resembling the Moss King he glares at it before looking around.
"What should we do now? Have a seat and see if you can pick anything up?" Is that how this works? A paleblood meditates in the paleblood sanctuary and gets psychic vibes?
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But Luz also knew this wasn't only about her. She looked over at Fern, who seemed to be glaring at one of the statues and mostly seemed to look ill at ease.
"Fern? Are you uncomfortable here? We can go, if you want. I don't want to keep you here if it's creeping you out."
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"No, no I'm okay. It's bad jubies," he's not going to deny the uncomfortable feeling he's getting from being here. "But this is important, right? And if it looks like anything bad's gonna happen we can book it out of here. Or, y'know, fight a big monster that's gonna bust out of the roots and ambush us."
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In that moment something changed- Luz felt as if everything around her flickered, and when she sat down, in that moment she felt the change in the air. She wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was as if there was a "bigness" that revealed itself around the room, vast and powerful and grand, and she was in the presence of it. It was both scary and thrilling, and it was hard to pinpoint which Luz felt more. Nonetheless, she sat, listening to Fern quietly.
"I don't see a monster, not in here. This place is supposed to be a shelter from Corruption, right? As long as you don't stay."
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He raises his eyebrows at what she finds. No monsters, huh? This seems like the perfect place for some evil monster to show up, in his opinion. It being a shelter seems suspicious, and he glances around. "Really? This creepy tree is actually supposed to be safe?"
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At the same time, she was feeling a pull to this place she couldn't quite understand. She wasn't sure what to call it, but she'd hazard a guess that it was like being in church. Not the feeling of going every Sunday, but seeing it for the first time: it feels bigger than you can place, and you cane sense the importance of it. Being quiet and allowing herself to take it in, she felt the power that was protecting the place just as she felt how alien it was too.
"I can sense the power here. It's a culmination of what keeps this world going, I'd guess. I bet if we go to other cities, their own power stations are influenced by its people too! But I also don't think you should stay longer than needed. That would be dangerous."
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"Cool, great, so it's a super important creepy blood tree," he says warily. That's awesome, this is some Deerington-level nonsense and he doesn't know why he's so surprised. "Any idea what happens if we stick around for too long?"
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"It is, and it's also kind of important in a way that you can't just vacation here? It's hard to describe. Like, there are stories about this creepy monster named Cuthulu that if you were to try and see him, it'll drive you insane. That's what I feel like this place is. In a way, it's its own entity that you shouldn't stay around too long, or its bigness will swallow you up. Does that make sense?"
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"Actually... yeah, I know exactly what that feels like," he replies, running a hand through his hair. "At least we got a better idea of what we're dealing with here, even if it isn't good."
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