(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]

.. of course.

[ There's that tiny pause before she says those two words - a pause during which Ange is staring over at Oscar. It's hard to tell anything from her gaze when her eyes are just filled with a golden glowing light like this, but it's almost as if she was studying him for a moment.

It seems that her study resulted in approval, though, since she waves a hand for Oscar to come closer, then gestures at the opposite seat underneath the gazebo for him to sit down there. ]

Take a seat. Have some tea. I'm sure you've already seem Ruby..?

[justoscar]

Of course.

[Oscar took his seat with all of the grace and respect that a young wizard should have for the witch that was his host, all warm smiles and not even a hitch to his step.

Underneath the smile, his heart rattled with the unsteady beat of a bird flapping around it's cage.]

She's my sister. Of course, I was going to visit her-- and you, as her wife.

[entreats]

[ For a moment Ange seems focused on summoning some tea for him. Sure, she could bring Break over and ask him to do it, since it technically is part of his duty, but he seemed so awfully busy trying to make a new hat earlier.. She wouldn't want to interrupt him in the middle of it.

And it's not like it's hard for Ange, as the ruler of this realm, to just wave her hand to make a cup appear out of nowhere on the table in front of Oscar, already filled with hot tea upon appearing. ]

Well, it doesn't have to just be a visit, if you would wish for it to be more.

[ It's said casually, but also a big detached. There's something much more inhuman than usually about Ange's demeanour. ]

You can always stay.

[justoscar]

[The tea was perfect, Oscar noted upon taking a sip. It was the warm enough to enjoy without fear of burns, with just enough sweetness that the natural bitterness of the tea was tempered without overpowering the flavor of the blend. Were it not for the circumstances, Oscar would have been impressed.

Instead, he only felt his heart squeeze itself into a corner with worry.]

...I know, and I'm grateful for that.

[He said, still edging towards diplomacy on this matter.]

But, what about Shortcake? And all of the chickens? They need someone to help take care of them. And, they'll get lonely.

[entreats]

You could bring them here.

[ It sounds like such a simple answer. Like Ange didn't even really have to think about it. It's not like her idea of an ideal world necessarily excludes the existence of farm animals, after all.. ]

I am still expanding this place. [ Ange takes a sip of her tea as she says it so easily, like she's just talking about normal construction work, rather than magically expanding a pocket dimension. ] I have to rest before I can continue to do so, but there should be plenty of room for them in the future.

[justoscar]

It's impressive work, too.

[Oscar said, with a nod. Everything about her work was impeccable, from the rooms to the tea. Even if he weren't a Wizard, he would be impressed.

But, even perfection has limits. There was nothing perfect in the natural world.]

With some of the conversations we've had, though... I'm surprised.

I didn't think a 'catbox' was something you would make, Ange.

[entreats]

[ Ange puts down her cup of tea, letting out a hum. ]

Technically this isn't anything like the catbox back home. Sure, that one was also sustained by magic, but there was something a little more to it here. Like.. belief. As long as no one knew whether the cat in the box was dead or alive, they could freely speculate, leading to that place's existence.

[ Granted, the girl already talks about this pretty easily in her regular form, having grown accustomed long ago to all this metaphysical nonsense. You can't live in her world without thinking about it, after all.

But it's even more easy and natural now. She doesn't even seem to think about slowing down for Oscar or anything, like she's just expecting him to keep up.

He is a wizard, after all. ]

There's no such thing here. No one has to wonder whether the cat in the box was alive or dead, since they can just peek in and look. I guess it doesn't necessarily make this place better or worse than that place, just fundamentally different in nature. I'm carrying this place with my power alone.

[ .. a small pause, then she tilts her head, glancing away from Oscar and instead out across the roses. ]

Or, well, I suppose not just mine alone. This place can only be a proper world since Ruby was there with me when I formed it.

[justoscar]

I see...

[It was useful to know any weaknesses. He didn't want to sow division between the newlyweds-- but, Oscar didn't doubt that there might eventually be a moment where he had to, if only to try to break the spell.

He watched her over his cup of sweet tea, his carriage seemingly relaxed but his eyes dark with a watchfulness that wasn't typical of the teen. Those who knew Ozpin might see the similarities as Oscar set the tea down and folded his hands together on the table with a formality that was far from ordinary.

After all, he was a Wizard.]

But, what about to the people outside of here?

If they don't know where we're at, then we may as well have returned to the sea for all that they know. We're not alive or dead to them, like that cat with the poison in the box.

This garden is impressive. It's still a catbox.

[entreats]

[ Ange doesn't seem bothered by the shift about him. In fact - she seems completely unfazed, not reacting to it in any particular way. Instead Ange is focusing much more on the talk they're having here. ]

There's one other key feature you're forgetting though. And that is.. anyone can create a catbox. It's not even like it's that hard. Anyone can think of a scenario they're unsure about, and imagine a possibility for it. You just think about it, and.. [ She holds her hand up next to her head, first as a fist, but then she spreads the fingers. ] .. poof, it exists. No need to be a witch or a wizard for that.

[ Ange shakes her head. ]

But it'd be little more than a delusion, right? Just thoughts and dreams one person is having. No one else can access it so easily.

[ She drops her hand back on the table. ]

That's the difference. If a catbox only belongs to one person, it's little more than an illusion. That's the reason I mentioned Ruby, you know? [ The mention of the other girl is what gets the corners of her lips to curl up, though it seems a little empty with the way her eyes are so expressionless in their current form. ] You need two people to create a world. It's the only way.

[ Ange pauses for a moment, and then the sound she lets out is almost a little like a giggle. Not ingenuine, necessarily, but there's a faint eerieness to it. ]

You might be a little too young to understand that, Oscar. But that's alright. It took me a long time to properly understand that as well.

[justoscar]

[Following that logic, Oscar was able to see the threads of a Truth that he had been denying-- and that, in his heart, there existed a catbox all his own.

Perhaps he really was a Wizard in a manner that was closer to Ange's definition than either of them realized. Oscar found that this wasn't a fact that made him proud or even comfortable...]

I think I have an idea, [Oscar said quietly, pointedly not watching the Witch or her uncanny joy while he mulled over this.] A world that we don't know the future of, and one that you don't know.

...But, that's part of life. We all have histories shared with some people, but not with others. Worlds where no one but us knows it's fate. It's not always kind, but it's part of what makes us who we are.

[entreats]

Trench is one such world, isn't it?

[ She lets the question linger in the air for a moment before continuing, gesturing a little as she speaks. ]

Except the beings that know its fate there are the Pthumerians, and they have been proven to not be very good at taking care of people. [ Most of them, anyway, and in her current state Ange is definitely ungenerous enough to say that about all of them. ] That is why I created this world. We need a place where its creator only has good intentions towards people. That's the only way we can be safe.

[justoscar]

But, Ange.

[Oscar set his tea down and folded his hands in front of him, and he regarded the Witch with the wary concern of someone that was a little too familiar with the dynamics involved with those that wield Power.]

I've watched a kingdom fall apart because of someone's good intentions. What assurances do we have that your Good Intentions are what people actually need?

[entreats]

[ There are long answers one could give here.

Even Ange could, technically. But with how far her brain is stuck in corruption mode at this point, there's only one simple thing she really wants to say in response to that, especially considering who's sitting here with her. ]

Don't you trust me?

[ If Oscar is her brother, then he should, right? What reason would he have not to, when she's the one creating this world, and when Ruby is also so involved with its creation and maintenance? ]

[justoscar]

[...And there was the crux of it. Oscar took a breath, steeling himself.]

I do.

[He said in level tones, matching Ange's own even tones with his own sense of literary understanding. Witches and Wizards were always fairly the same in the stories-- and stories weren't always very far from the truth.]

But I also love you, and I worry about both you and Ruby. The two of you make an impressive team-- one that's even more powerful with Uncle Break involved. But, three people don't always make the most effective of teams.

You need a lot more than just Ruby to walk with you and help you support your beautiful dreams.

Ange-- will you let me walk with you?

[entreats]

[ There's a brief pause after he says that. Ange stares at him, her expression hard to read due to the way her eyes look right now, not really betraying any particular emotion without any pupils or irises to speak of. But if Oscar reads it right, just in her body language or the context of the conversation, he may realise the pause is born out of surprise.

Hence why it's only a moment later that she asks: ]

You want to help?

[ Granted - the help in Oscar's mind and the help in Ange's mind could be two different things entirely, but Ange doesn't seem to be thinking of as much just yet.

Instead she asks just this, as if to confirm what she thinks she's hearing here. Even when corrupted, Ange hasn't forgotten what it's like to have help offered to you so few times during most of your life to be a little doubtful of it every single time it then does happen. ]

[justoscar]

We're family; of course I want to help you.

[He smiled at her warmly, as if undaunted by the Witch's unreadable expression and emotional distance that was as regal as it was eldritch. Such was the manner of witches and rich women-- who was a mere farmboy to question this.]

There aren't many of us left from the Dream, you know. We should stick together, and help each other make our own little places of beauty in the world we found after we went to sea.

[entreats]

.. of course. That is all I wanted to do here.

[ It's why people could still enter this world. Maybe it wasn't a conscious decision on Ange's part, to leave that little portal open into this place, but her magic realised that she did want to let people in. Maybe not everyone, since the girl really dislikes some people in Trench, but-- she never wanted to shut out the people who mean something to her.

People like Oscar. Like other friends and family who have entered. She may have created this world, but it's not to rule as some sort of dictator. It's just-- ]

I only want this place to be safe for everyone.

[ And if others want to help with that, then that's no problem. It's why there's no protest from her to Oscar's words. ]

I.. would like for you to be here with us. I would miss you if you weren't.

[ Apparently that's something that hasn't changed, even with corruption bending Ange's mind. ]