(open) you're looking at me like you don't know who i am

[entreats]

Who: Ange, Ruby, Break, and anyone who knows any of them.
What: Corruption turned Ange into a true Umineko witch who decided the best way to keep the people she loves safe from this town is to drag them into a pocket dimension.
When: For a while in March.
Where: Ange and Ruby's house-turned-small-pocket-dimension.

Content Warnings: Potential violence if anyone acts particularly antagonistic. Potential talk of violence or gore. Other warnings will be added when things pop up.



Perhaps you have seen Ruby's odd network post and decided to check things out. Or maybe you're just wandering around Trench and notice that Ange and Ruby's house suddenly looks.. different.

The house has been completely overgrown by way oversized roses, big thorns growing out of all the stems, completely obscuring the structure that's supposed to be underneath it. If you get close enough to the cluster of roses, you may feel your connection to any of the three people inside suddenly pull you in. (Please note: only people who know either Ange, Ruby or Break will be able to enter the pocket dimension because of this!)

If you give in to the sensation, everything around you might go black, and when the light returns, you seem to find yourself in.. a hedge maze. A rather odd one, though. As you stumble through it, you may suddenly find yourself in random rooms, and then back out of them into the hedge maze once more. The Moss King's wild plants seem to have even invaded corners of this place, so you might want to watch out you avoid having those snap at you. Retracing your steps through the labyrinth feels impossible, like the way is changing up behind you with every step. Some rooms make perfect sense - like a neat and elaborate kitchen, or a library - and others seem to consist of nonsense with stairs leading upside down or to nowhere, or gravity not working in a specific room at all.

Flying throughout the entire maze are golden butterflies. They seem to fly with direction, and if you follow them, you might find them leading you to one of the people you were looking for..

Comments

[entreats]

[ It's always been easy for Ruby to just carry Ange, given their difference in physical strength and their similar sizes, but it's even easier right now when Ange truly stays like a ragdoll in Ruby's arms, only the other's grip preventing her from slipping right out of that grasp and dropping to the ground.

She's far too lost in thought right now to actually hold back onto Ruby in turn. There's so much to think about, and none of her thoughts make sense - and the absolute worst part is that the harder she tries to think about any of this, the more-- ]

It still hurts.

[ She even sounds like she's in pain as she says those words. Ange doesn't even notice the blood that's now getting onto her as well, sticking from Ruby's outfit to Ange's own golden feather dress. ]

She's gone, but it.. it still hurts. Why isn't this feeling going away..? [ She swallows thickly. ] Something is.. wrong.

[ But she doesn't know what.

It's just that simple thought that keeps returning to her mind, over and over, without any seemingly obvious reason. Something is wrong. ]

[onekindsoul]

[The power Ange had bestowed Ruby boiled the more she lingered on the thought of what happened. Part of her wanted to go and take out that frustration out on the person who had caused Ange to feel like this.

But she knew her priority was here, at her witches side. So that might have to wait for another time.

She aches at the pain in Ange's voice and does her best to cradle her with all the support she can.]

It's because you cared for her.

It's because she knew that and she tried to use it against you.

[...If there were any screaming sirens that Ruby wasn't in her right mind. These were them.]

[entreats]

[ Was that it? It sounds tempting to a part of Ange's mind. There's something seductive about giving in to that thought, especially when Ange used to be - though less so nowadays - so cynical about other people and their intentions. Wouldn't it be easier to just say that Anna was being cruel? That she was trying to deceive her, and that that is why it hurts so much? That way she doesn't have to dig deeper into these thoughts, especially since they only seem to hurt her more the more she attempts to dig into them.

.. but there's still doubt in her mind. Still something that feels wrong, even with the light that Ruby is casting over what just happened.

It's hard to understand, even as Ange can feel the other girl gently putting her back down where she was sitting earlier, even as Ange can feel Ruby's hands still on her, still holding her, protecting her.

So she turns her thoughts away from Anna, unable to decypher them, and instead focuses on Ruby. There are things in this moment that don't feel wrong. Ruby protecting her-- that's right, that's what Ruby is like, right? But there's something else here. ]

Ruby, why.. did you hurt her..? [ The more she thinks about it, the stranger it feels. Sure, Ruby is protective of her. Sure, Ruby would want to keep her safe. But something about the way in which this went down keeps sticking in Ange's mind, bouncing back and forth, the girl left unsure of how to process it, or how to feel about it.

It makes the words sound uncertain even as they leave her mouth. Not accusatory, just.. confused. Lost, almost. ]

You're not like that..

[ Those words feel a little more right. Something in her heart confirms it, beats fondly. Ruby isn't like that.

Ruby isn't like this.

Sometimes you can't recognize how twisted everything has become until it's held up to you like a mirror. And sometimes that mirror is your wife. ]

[onekindsoul]

[Where Ange might be realizing that something is very wrong with this situation, Ruby doesn't seem incredibly bothered by it. She had protected her witch, she was tending to her needs, she was doing everything that good furniture should do.

So when the question is brought to her attention, she just stares blankly for a moment. She appears to be thinking about it but there's no gears actually turning to process the question. It was one of those things that were just missing from at the moment.

Instead of any sort of heartfelt answer she'll smile sweetly and let her hands rest gently on Ange's shoulders.]

I'm not sure what you mean.

I was protecting you. Keeping you safe. Isn't that what good furniture does?

Did I not do the right thing?

cw: vomitting (kind of)

[entreats]

[ Oh god, Ruby is wrong.

Ruby is so wrong. The more Ange lets that thought seep into her mind, the more she realises it's true. This is nothing like Ruby. She's not a girl who would hurt people that badly over so little - Anna hadn't even touched Ange, Anna would never hurt either of them. Ruby isn't someone who stays calm like nothing is up when there's blood all over her.

That fact by itself would be concerning enough, just there being something wrong with Ruby, but Ange knows it's not this place that caused that.

She did it. She did this.

Ruby is wrong, and it's all her fault. Ange made her wrong. She twisted her own wife into something only barely recognizable. ]

Ruby.. no. No, you're-- You're not like this. Ruby, I messed you up. [ Ange's eyes are wide, fearful of what she's done, of what she's only now slowly starting to realise. No corruption could be stronger than the worry for the person Ange loves the most in the entire world, after all, and the more her usual self starts to peek through, the more Ange starts to desperately ramble.

Like she wants to convince Ruby of this too, show the other girl that this is wrong, but it's hard to do so when Ange's own worries and emotions are kicking into overdrive. It leaves her desperately pleading as the guilt hits her like a truck. ]

I'm so sorry..! I messed you up! I--

[ Feeling sick to her stomach, the girl bends over forwards, starting to throw up.

Even if the only thing that's leaving her mouth - rather than vomit - are clouds of golden butterflies. ]

[onekindsoul]

[The last thing Ruby had wanted to do was cause Ange some sort of distress. She didn't see anything wrong with what she had said. ...But that was the point wasn't it?

She sees the fear pick up in her precious witch and she quickly moves to try and console her. She doesn't understand why she's apologizing? Why she's rejecting her the way she is. One bloody and one clean hand move to gently shake Ange before hugging her, and if that doesn't work trying to cradle her.]

No, no. You don't have to apologize for anything.

You did nothing wrong.

You gave me the strength to stand again. You built this world for us. You let me serve you faithfully- As your furniture?

[But had she been? Would good furniture have let her witch fallen into such shambles. Her own panic starts to build up. The butterflies start spilling out of Ange's mouth and she's not sure whether she could be clearing them- or shoving them back in as they're a part of Ange's powers.

She settles on clearing them out.]

If anyone has messed up here it's me. You're the golden witch. You're perfect in everyway. If something made you imperfect it's me because I couldn't serve you properly.

[entreats]

[ This is awful. Every single word spilling out of the other's mouth feels like someone is taking a sledgehammer straight to her gut, making her feel worse and worse when she's realising the true extent of what she did to Ruby. The things she made Ruby believe, even if it wasn't intentional. Everyone had been warning her too, saying that Ruby was acting off, and Ange, she.. she didn't even realise it. She was completely blind to it until now.

Until Ruby already hurt someone they both care about.

There's so much she should do to help this situation. She has to find Anna and make sure she's alright. She has to somehow turn Ruby back to normal. She has to-- She has--

The more Ange tries to think about it, the heavier her mind feels. The overuse of magic starts taking its toll on her as the corruption slowly fades, and it's just too much. Ange can't handle it, and she starts to slump further in Ruby's hold.

The world around them starts shaking, and then it just seems to disappear. First fading at the edges, but then fading more and more. Butterflies disappear into nothing, hedges poof away like they never existed.

Ange opens her mouth, wanting to say something, if not just to reassure Ruby.

But it's all so heavy. She's so tired. All she manages is: ]

Ruby... R-Ruby... [ The name flows out of her mouth desperately. Her mind is too heavy to form any other words, but she wants to get through to the other so bad. She wants to set this right. She wants to apologize to her--

A moment later the world is gone entirely, Ange and Ruby just standing inside of their bedroom, where all of this had started in the first place all those weeks ago. And Ange now fully collapses into Ruby's arms, no longer showing any sign of consciousness. ]