return those voices echoing in the sea (closed)

[entreats]

Who: Ange and assorted CR.
What: A catchall for event threads.
When: During December
Where: Mostly in memoryscape, some other stuff all across Trench.

Content Warnings: Child abuse, bullying, suicidal ideation, violence, gore, blood, character death

( it's a catchall for closed event threads! if i didn't promise you a starter on this already, but you'd still like to play something out with ange during the event - especially when it comes to the winter mourning - please let me know by either pming this account or contacting me on plurk at queeningsquare! )

Comments

mako;

[entreats]

[ Ever since reading up about the Winter Mournings, she can't help but want to try it out herself. Partially just to experiment with it, but it sure doesn't hurt that it also says that it's supposed to stabilize people and give them restful sleep - which is something she truly can use, given how stressed she feels this month.

But it also means that it's a gamble, every time she touches one of them. She doesn't know what specific memory she might end up in. Whether it's her own, or someone else's. And who else might be there, since it doesn't seem to her so far like proximity is influencing anything about whose memory you end up in. Or not consistently, anyway.

So when Ange finds herself in a room that's very familiar to her, that's not the surprising part. It's a memory she knows well. It's a round room, not too large - looking a little like a western parlor. In the middle of the room is a low table, and against the walls of the room, all around, are chairs. Multiple of which are currently occupied. In one of them is a woman in an ornate dress, her blonde hair done up, a rose sticking out of her hair. In the chair on the opposite side of the room is a young man. Standing next to the young man is Ange herself - or rather, a second Ange. One that isn't just viewing this memory like a ghostly presence, but one that seems very much active, her mouth moving, though there's no sound coming out, as if the memory is still slowly loading.

One thing is very clear though, looking at the latter two. Ange and the young man look very similar. Their hair is the exact same shade of bright red, their eyes the same blue, even their facial features have some stuff in common.

Ange - the actual one - isn't staring at her other self and the man though. Instead she glances over to her side, finding the one person who doesn't belong in this memory. The one she must have dragged into it accidentally. ]

Mako. [ There's something faintly guilty in her tone. ] .. Sorry. I didn't think you'd be here.

[arclightning]

...this is yours.

[ At least, this time, Mako had meant to touch the thing. The first time it had been a simple brush of shoulder-on-bone and he'd been yanked into something he really didn't want to relive. This time, the reason is pretty obvious: Mako is shadowed by a lack of sleep, his skin oddly gray and flaky, though mostly covered by a thick knit sweater he'd gotten back in Deerington. If not for the odd gray tinge he might look fine, but as it is he's stiff-shouldered and tired and his hair is a mess, and he's looking at the other Ange and someone who... has to be her brother with trepidation.

He watches her mouth move silently for a moment before looking at his own Ange, the one he knows, and frowning deeper. ]

Do you have something to apologize for? This going to get bad?

[entreats]

.. yeah.

[ There's that tiny pause before she says it. It shows that there's a moment of hesitation, since Ange can be blunt and direct to drop that answer right away.

And yet something made her stop for a moment. Maybe it has to do with this specific memory. Or perhaps she's too distracted by the way Mako just looks kind of off today, in a way that can't be caused by the memory. After all, it's hers, not his.

She's about to ask about it, but then the memory distracts her. Just some movement out of the corner of her eye making her look back at the figures, still silent for a moment, like a TV put on mute.

She wonders if it is because she ought to explain all of this. Or any of this.

Maybe she should, if he's been dragged into this memory. It might end up being even more cruel without context. ]

That guy over there. [ She points at the young man. ] I'm sure you already guessed, but that's my big brother. The reason he doesn't look older than me there is because--

[ God. Ange knows this reason is going to sound ridiculous to anyone not from her own world, hence why she cuts herself off, starting anew in a way she thinks is going to make more sense. ]

Because.. Mako. If you had the chance to go back in time to save your parents, would you?

[arclightning]

Yeah.

[ No hesitation, not for an instant, even if the question is kind of a non-sequitur. Mako keeps his eyes on the younger man, so much like Ange. More time nonsense? Ange mentioned that there was a lot of it in her world, Mako remembers that much. He wonders if this young man has long to live, if this is another memory. What's about to happen to him.

Quietly, he shifts a little closer to Ange. ]

Don't know if I'd succeed. I was a kid. Barely knew how to bend, but... I'd still try.

Why?

fern; this one will be going from not-interactable to interactable as the memory progresses!

[entreats]

[ The moment this memory unfolds itself in front of Ange's eyes, she realises that she hasn't seen it yet. She's seen some of her memories repeat, but not this one - it's the first time she's seen it since.. well, since she experienced it herself.

Unfortunately, it seems that Ange is experiencing this one herself all over again. Instead of viewing it as some neutral third party, it seems that she's viewing this one through her own eyes. Through the eyes of the Ange from that moment.

Because she can tell that she is here. There's no other Ange. Standing here in the middle of this overgrown grassy field that seems to spread out almost as far as one can see, only fading in the distance where sharp cliffs lead up to the sea - it's just her.

.. well, maybe not just her. She can see one other person here with her, even though he's looking a little see-through, almost ghostly. Maybe it's since they're not both neutral observers this time? Only he is? ]

Fern.. That's you, isn't it?

[ Ange definitely looks a year or two younger in this memory, but there's obvious recognition in her eyes as she looks at him. ]

[laminae]

[Fern isn't totally sure what's going on outside of this being some more Trench nonsense. That is shaping up to be similar to Deerington nonsense, so he's half expecting this to go south very, very quickly. For now though, it seems pretty peaceful. The field is nice, and the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff reaches his ears.

He looks over at the sound of his name, recognizing Ange easily enough. She's a little younger but it's still definitely her. Confusedly, he blinks, then looks down at his hands. They're slightly translucent, though he doesn't feel like he's in pain or anything, so this is mostly just strange.]

Uh huh, yup. What's going on? Where are we? [This doesn't seem like Trench, it's way more lush, not to mention warmer.]

[entreats]

Uh, this is..

[ For a moment even Ange seems a little confused. There's just something about actually being herself, her younger self, in this moment that's so strange. Especially since Fern most definitely wasn't there when all of this went down.

She stretches her fingers, then forms her head into a ball by her side. It all feels.. so real. Strange. ]

This is Rokkenjima. [ She finally continues. Though, realising that won't get him far, she quickly adds: ] It's.. one of my memories. This was my family's private island, but twelve years before this memory, my entire family died here. Everything was destroyed too. That's why it all now just looks like.. this.

[ Ange gestures at the sprawling empty fields. It doesn't look like anyone has lived here for a long time. There's not even any sort of structure left. ]

I went here to see if I could find any trace of what happened.

ruby;

[entreats]

[ Of course Ange has noticed that Ruby has been having a hard time.

It's difficult to not notice that sort of thing when you're living together, not to mention when you're girlfriends who share a bed. They're around each other too much for Ange to not notice the sort of daze Ruby seems to have worked herself into, and thankfully she did hear what the cause behind it was.

.. Though that leaves her with the problem that it's not fixable. She can't undo what Ruby did, the reason that's left her feeling like this. It would be so much easier if she could just do that, but with that option off the table.. Well, perhaps all she can do is alleviate the feeling.

And if what Ange read about the Winter Mournings is true, then this should be a solution. At least it ought to help Ruby sleep a little bit better tonight.

And if that book lied to her, Ange swears to god, she's going to go back to the library and burn it with her own two--

Okay. No. She has to think more positive thoughts.

So when Ruby enters their bedroom today, she will find Ange there seeming to finish up some sort of decorative antler piece on the wall. Totally normal. What do you mean, Ange is clearly always performing home improvement in their room! She totally isn't up to something! ]

Ruby! [ Ange's attention immediately zones in on the other girl the moment Ruby enters. She's already stepping over to her, putting a hand on Ruby's upper arm. ] .. How are you feeling right now?

[ Look, she will get to telling Ruby that she's got something that might help in a moment, but this feels more important to ask first. ]

[onekindsoul]

[Ruby wasn't sure exactly how she had been feeling lately. She didn't exactly good or bad about what happened, just out of sorts and perhaps a little numb. How else are you supposed to feel when you kill a family members loved one to protect that family member and the persons sister. She had done what had needed to be done, she had kept both Oscar and Mabel safe. She knew that- She knew she had done what needed to be done.

But it still just didn't sit right with her.

So her expression is a touch vacant as she enters the room. Lingering on the floor for just a minute until she catches sight of Ange immediately at her side. She feels a flicker of a smile play up on her lips but it doesn't quite meet her eyes. ]

Hey- Ange. I.

[She stops and lets a hand rest on Ange's.]

I'm doing okay- You know?

[For Ruby doing anything less than good was usually a dire sign. She does manage to catch sight of antler piece.]

...Is that a hat for Sir Goatslot?

[entreats]

[ Ange sucks in a breath, and then slowly releases it as she talks. Trying to put a slightly amused spin on her words. ]

You'd wish.

[ It's a soft kind of joke though. It's not really a joke, more just an attempt to keep things light here for Ruby. Because it's very obvious to Ange that the other still isn't doing well. Absolutely everything about Ruby right now screams that she isn't - to a point where it's almost painful to see the other girl like this.

Usually Ruby is so full of life. This almost doesn't feel like her anymore.

But that's exactly why Ange carefully takes a hold of that hand Ruby put on top of her own, holding it between her own two hands. Like she's trying to warm it up, even though she knows that Ruby just permanently feels like an ice cube now. ]

No, it's something that I think might help you a little. If you're willing to trust me on this one.

scorpia;

[entreats]

[ This memory...

.. well, Ange isn't too sure where it is going. Or rather, she isn't too sure which specific memory she has found herself in. After all, right now she's just standing in an elevator - and it's not like Ange has only done that once in her life. Even as she can see that other version of herself standing right there in the elevator with her, seeming to ignore the actual Ange, it doesn't tell her much. She looks a little younger than Ange does now, perhaps by a year or two, but that's exactly the period of her life during which she used a lot of elevators.

So rather than trying to figure out in which memory she's found herself this time after touching the antlers, Ange instead figures who she's here with.

.. something that isn't so hard to figure out. After all, Scorpia - in both personality and appearance - is never subtle.

And even less so when they're standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a small elevator. ]

Ah. [ She pauses.

Awkwardly. ]

You're here too.

[ It's said so casually. As if they're randomly meeting up at some random place in Trench, rather than finding themselves here together in Ange's memory.. ]

[cuddlery]

[Scorpia's a bit puzzled. One minute, she was touching her Winter Mourning to test it out. The next, she finds herself in an elevator with a familiar face. She raises a friendly pincer as she greets her with a confused smile.]

Oh, hi there, Ange!

[...Wait. make that two familiar faces.]

...And... Another Ange! Or... do you have a sister?

[entreats]

Nope, that's just another Ange.

[ It's perhaps slightly too casual of a tone to say that sort of statement with, but Ange can't help it. It's partially her own tendency to deal with these sorts of situations in this way, and partially the way that she knows Scorpia is...

.. well, Scorpia doesn't tend to react to situations in the same way most people do. Let's just put it like that. It feels like the most polite way to Ange.

So she figures she can get away with being a little bit casual about it. ]

It's just a memory. [ When the other Ange doesn't turn to look at them, despite their clear conversation, Ange gestures at the other girl with an arm.. as far as she can in this not-too-big elevator, anyway. ] See? She can't even hear us.

wu;

[entreats]

[ Perhaps the Winter Mournings can somehow sense what a person is thinking of, even if it's not actively.

It's something Ange will be pondering later for sure. Because somewhere deep within her was the thought that she still had to have the aunt talk with Wu. She honestly intended on doing it much earlier, but recent events - read: spending most of November in bed - sure made it a lot harder to actually do it. And at this point it almost feels awkward to bring it up again. Like it's a little too late. How does anyone even go up to someone else and ask, 'oh, hey, remember that talk about the abuse we suffered from our aunts we were going to have?' and make it sound normal?

Maybe it sensed that in her heart. Because in the middle of experimenting with the Winter Mournings, Ange finds herself drawn into a memory related to it.

The memory of an incredibly large room, fancily decorated with expensive drapes and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The ballroom-esque space is filled up with tables, people seated all around them, wearing dresses and suits that very much seem to match the atmosphere of the room itself. It's as if everything in the room radiates wealth.

Which makes Ange stand out in her current outfit - but no one seems to pay attention to her, as if they can't even see her.

But she's not the only one getting ignored by all the waiters hastily walking right past. Standing right next to her is the exact person she was supposed to share the context of this memory with.

(And perhaps one of the few people who might recognize the exact kind of atmosphere of this sort of fancy party.) ]

Wu..! Sheesh, I wasn't even thinking of you.. [ Not consciously, anyway.

But something out there must have Known. ]

[royalfling]

[ Maybe Wu should learn not to touch the mournings, and yet, here he is again, in another memory, one he doesn't recognize. Except--he does. He knows this kind of party, this kind of extravagant wealth that drips from everything, where the centerpieces are each trying to one up each other, where what you wear is a commentary on your place in society.

He isn't dressed for this. He still dresses well in Trench, but he's found the joy in looser clothes, in different styles, in things he would never have thought to wear at home.

Luckily, no one seems to notice him, not until someone says his name and he jumps with a yelp ]

A-Ange! Oh, boy. Um. Thanks? [ She wasn't thinking of him. Is that a good thing? ]

[entreats]

Thanks..?

[ Ange repeats the word, slowly blinking at Wu. Like her brain needs another moment here to process that word - until she realises why he's saying that.

Or rather, until she realises how what she just said must've sounded, too caught up in her own realisation to really think about that aspect of it. ]

Oh-- no. I--

[ Ange opens her mouth, sputters those few words, and then closes it again. Like she isn't even sure what to first say here. There's so much she could say. ]

What I meant, was.. remember when we said we were going to talk about our aunts one day? [ She gestures with an arm at the party around them, rather than anything specific just yet.

She assumes Wu must at least know this is a memory. He seems a little confused, yes, but not startled in the way that someone who touched those antlers for the first time would react. ]

I guess.. we got caught up in a memory of mine that involves my aunt.

atsushi;

[entreats]

[ There's one place Ange dreads seeing, even though she's more and more sure it will pop up sometime soon now as she seems to cycle through memories.

And that, of course, is what she's currently finding herself staring at. The very walls of St. Lucia's academy. The one place she truly wished she had left behind forever.

Even though she knows that it's nothing more than a memory, that it can't hurt her, Ange still feels it giving her the creeps all the same. And the worst part is that she knows she's not alone. She hasn't been alone during any of these memories - why would she be now?

And indeed, the moment she turns her head she can notice a familiar guy right next to her. Atsushi would be pretty noticable in any crowd, but even moreso here in the sea of girls all dressed in the same school uniform.

.. god, why Atsushi of all people? Why does he have to see this? At least Ange is wearing her usual clothes, so she knows that she at least gets to be a third party observer for this memory rather than the one experiencing it all over again, but she definitely does not want him to see this.

It might be why Ange is saying nothing. As if Atsushi might magically ignore her, as long as she doesn't speak up. Despite the fact that the other must be confused to suddenly find him in this memory.

Especially one that isn't his own. ]

[undermoonlight]

[Atsushi flinches into consciousness, startled by how quickly the scenery around him has changed. His senses adjust sharply, motivated by terror after a month of teleporting to and from that bloodied nightmare. But rather than being surrounded by horror, Atsushi finds himself surrounded by... high school girls.

And he immediately knows that he should not be here.]

Eh?! Uh- E, Excuse me??

[Oh lord, he is going to jail, isn't he? He skitters back against a wall at first, expecting someone to get angry at him. This looks like an all-girl's school, and a fancy one at that! If he stopped to think, he might realize that this sort of place would not exist in the Trench. Instead, he's focused on finding an exit-- Which is how he comes to notice Ange.

She looks about as out of place as he feels, to the point that she had might as well be a paper cut out pasted on the wrong picture... The sight of her calms him down. He approaches her quickly, voice low and nervous.]

Ange-chan? Are you okay? What's going on?

[entreats]

[ Is it all that surprising to see Atsushi freaking out so much?

.. not really. It suits him, after all. He's much more the type to impulsively react and get emotional than she is.. and if he has no clue what's going on here, then of course he's going to react like that.

So Ange tries to pull her thoughts away from this place and all the feelings it brings her upon even just a glimpse at it, and instead gathers herself enough to speak up and bother to explain. ]

Ah, well.. This is a memory.

[ Might as well start with the basics. She doesn't know if this is the first one he's seen this month, after all.

(God, if this is the first one, and then it just happens to be one of hers.. It's like this place knows she'd rather not show him!) ]

Is this the first time this has happened to you this month? [ Ange glances around as she says that, though she's mostly trying to keep an eye out for 'herself'. So far she can't see the Ange that's supposed to be in this memory though, so she's kind of hoping that younger Ange won't show up at all. Maybe she can claim this is someone else's memory then. Just gently sidestep having to show her past to Atsushi. ]

willow;

[entreats]

[ It's not the first time Ange is seeing this memory, she realises.

After all, she instantly knows which one this is, the moment she finds herself once more in that round room. The table standing in the middle of the parlor-like room again, the seats all around it.

Ange looks out over the people present in it. First the ones that don't seem to notice her. Like the woman in an ornate dress, her blonde hair done up and held up there with a big rose. Like the two seemingly younger girls standing there - who look like they can't be much older than maybe twelve years old, yet the look in their eyes doesn't suit their physical age. One is dressed entirely in pink, with candy-like decorations lining her dress, and the other has long blue hair and seems to have.. a cat tail?

Something about both the girls and the woman doesn't feel right. They seem very supernatural. (Ange knows why, of course. Knows that they're witches.)

The only two people who seem normal are on the other side of the room. There's Ange standing there - or rather, a version of her looking just slightly younger than the actual Ange standing here witnessing the memory - and on the seat she's standing next to is a young man, with hair and eyes the exact same shade as her.

.. there's one more person though, isn't there? Ange knows these memories by now. She is not witnessing it alone.

Perhaps that's why it's so unsurprising to find Willow next to her. ]

So you got drawn into my memory this time, huh..?

[frogfear]

[Willow looks around the parlor room. The girls look young, but there's clearly power there, and what feels like an agelessness in their eyes she can't quite place. And... is that a cat tail? That's a new one to her, but there's enough strange about this scene that cat tail feels pretty low on the list.

She takes a moment to study Ange-The-Younger, and the young man who looks like he's probably related to her somehow, then turns her attention to Actual Ange who is apparently witnessing this memory right along side her.]

I guess so? What are we seeing here?

[entreats]

Well..

[ Ange's voice trails off, and she glances back at the scene around them, as if she has to consider that answer for a moment. Not because Ange doesn't want to tell Willow, though it would have been more convenient if the other wouldn't see this.

No, it's more just that it's hard to know where to even start explaining. ]

A lot. [ -- is therefore her entire first answer, for the lack of a better one. What they're seeing right now, is a lot. ]

This is the place in my world where witches play games. [ Perhaps it's the easiest to start there, considering the concept of witches is one of the things about her world she did tell Willow about. And a concept Willow understands well, even if she may find these perhaps different from the ones in her world. ]

That witch with the blonde hair.. The one that doesn't look as young. [ She points at the seated one with the elaborate dress, rather than the two younger-looking ones. ] She is playing a game with my brother, with the lives of our family at stake. She keeps murdering our family over and over, and she claims to have done it with her magic. If my brother could disprove that it was magic, then he'd win, and our family would get to return home. If he'd give in to the witch instead, she would win, and our family would be lost forever.

[ It's not hard to tell then that the guy who looks so much like Ange has to be said brother. They just look too much alike for it to not be the case. ]

qrow;

[entreats]

[ This time the room in the memory is dim. Not dim enough to not be able to make out anything, but it's definitely the sort of room that seems like it hasn't seen sunlight in a long time.

What the room is, though, is very obvious. It's a hospital room. A private one, judging by the fact that there's only one bed, despite the room being big enough to hold more than that. A VIP room.

There's an old woman lying in the bed, looking more like a corpse than an actual person - and standing next to her is Ange. Or rather, a slightly different looking Ange than usually. Something about her looks just a few years younger than the Ange that's present in Trench.. and who is also present in this room. She's standing near the window, leaning against the windowsill as she watches the old woman and her younger self.

.. and the other person in the room.

Because when she spots the man there, her gaze definitely meets Qrow's for a moment, before looking away awkwardly. Almost guiltily.

When she speaks up, no one else in the room seems to notice. ]

Sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into this.

oh god i thought this was from january rip. . . .

[bolstafir]

[Qrow has not been in many hospitals; with Aura, it's fairly rare for most Huntsman to need that level of care. Even when he'd been dying from poison, he had been tended to by field medics and left to rest and recover in a hotel. Perhaps the only time he's ever stepped foot in a hospital himself is when Ruby was born.

Even so, he can tell this is not going to be a pleasant memory even before Ange speaks up. He can feel the tension in the air, and in her especially as she looks away. Qrow shakes his head.]

It's not your fault. [Arguably, it might be his, considering his Semblance] This town's a pain in the ass.

[But he knows how these things work. They'll have to talk about it eventually. So:]

Who is she?

ssshh i'm just glad you're here now!!

[entreats]

Aunt Eva. [ Apparently she doesn't mind sharing the information, despite the apology she just fired off. The answer comes out of her mouth fairly easily, like she doesn't even have to think about whether or not to tell Qrow.

She trusts him, after all. And even if she didn't, it's not like he wouldn't find it out himself by watching this. ]

The aunt who was forced to raise me after our family died.

[ The wording is deliberate. Especially since it feels even more important with him of all people here. Qrow, who chose to become an uncle to two young girls when they needed someone around, despite not even being blood related to one of them. Whereas Eva and Ange never really had much of a choice. (Especially when it was this, or the Sumaderas.

There are days where it felt like the Sumaderas would've been easier. At least that would've been quick.)

The woman in the bed and the other Ange seem totally oblivious to the presence of two other people here though. It's like they can't even hear Qrow and Ange's words.

When the old woman finally speaks up in a scratchy voice, it's instead directed at the Ange who's standing next to her bed. ]

You know what? I.. really hate you. I built this future for my son's sake. To think that it would be snatched away by you. To think that it would be stolen away by Rudolf's daughter... I can't bear it. To think that... I would have my fortune stolen away without even leaving behind a child... That, I cannot forgive...!

[ And that other Ange, the one from the memory listening to it? She's totally stone-faced - absolutely nothing can be read from her expression. ]