deercountry | return those voices echoing in the sea (closed)

[ 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. ]

[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.]

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.

[Well, this is certainly something he shouldn't be seeing. It's obviously intensely personal, and he runs a hand through his hair, feeling a spike of stress within him. What the heck does someone say to all of that?

He makes a noise like a sigh.]

... Oh. Geez, I'm sorry.

[He looks around again, realizes what he's doing, and abruptly forces his attention on Ange.]

Should I not be seeing any of this? Should I cover my eyes? I can cover my eyes, if you want.

.. no.

[ It's said almost hastily once Ange realises why he's asking her that. It's kind on his part, but something about that kindness makes something hurt inside of her chest.

Exactly because she knows what he's going to witness. It can start any moment now, and she knows it. ]

I.. I don't have anything to hide from you, Fern. [ Not here and now. ] But..

[ Ange's voice trails off, and she frowns, trying to find the right words. ]

What's about to happen could be.. kind of upsetting to you, I guess. [ Because Ange is pretty sure Fern is not going to be okay with watching her getting beaten up. ] So if you want to look away because it's too much for you at any point, then.. just do that, okay?

[ The last thing she wants to do is upset Fern with her memory. He's already got enough on his shoulders, especially with everything that's going on with Varian. ]

[He almost wishes she had said he could go ahead and cover his eyes. That would probably be a lot easier for both of them, though he gets these instances of memory invasions never get to be easy.

At least they're friends. They can get through this together. He gives a small nod, silently listening to the rest of she has to say. Upsetting... he doesn't like the sound of that. He he doesn't like where any of this is going, and it's obvious from the growing worry on his face.]

Okay, I will. [He won't.] What's gonna happen?

Well, I--

[ Ange starts to explain, but apparently she doesn't get much of a chance to do so. After just those two words leave her mouth, she's interrupted by another voice. ]

Who would've thought that when I'd finally find my niece, she'd be talking to the air..?

[ Ange turns her head, and if Fern turns to look as well, he'll see a sudden group of figures wandering up to them. There's one grey-haired middle aged woman wearing a kimono, and then a group of about eight men wearing black suits and sunglasses.

All of them have their gaze trained on Ange, as if they can't even see Fern right there.

As for Ange? Something about her looks tense for a moment, but then it relaxes.

Whatever. It's just a memory. She can make it through this. ]

Wow, aunt Kasumi, are you saying you've been waiting out here all day, just to lure me into this trap? There's no toilets here, so you must've taken an elegant dump under some tree by now.

[ It immediately twists the woman's expression, and the moment she's close enough to Ange, she reaches out to grab hold of one of Ange's pigtails, pulling the girl closer with a rough tug as the men surround them - before the woman, Kasumi, spits right on Ange's cheek. ]

You really are Kyrie's daughter, aren't you? You don't even have one bit of elegance!

[Well, at least this confirms that he's apparently invisible to the rest of the people in the memory. Fern is infinitely glad he isn't to Ange - these memories are never good, so this way he can support her through it.

He isn't sure who these people are, but they look a little intimidating. Out of the corner of his eye he catches Ange tensing, which doesn't bode well, and in response he tenses up, too. Which... is kind of hard to maintain when his friend is being so sassy. Wow, he lets out a snort as he tries to repress a laugh.

Unfortunately, that amusement is fleeting. The woman, Ange's aunt, grabs her and he immediately steps closer, one hand closing into a first.]

Hey! Let her go!

[ Even if no one else seems to hear Fern, Ange does. And it feels.. weirdly familiar in a way. Right, in this original memory, there was someone there talking to her too. Also someone no one else but her could see, yet they were rooting for her. Being concerned for her. Just as Fern is right now - she can tell that much from the other's voice, even without being able to turn her head in his direction with the way her hair is still being held.

But it's.. nice. It's mostly just nice. Ange is a lot more tense about this situation than she's showing towards the woman and the men around her, and she's infinitely grateful to have someone on her side here. Someone who seems amused by her dumb deadpan jokes, even. ]

It's fine, Fern. [ Even though Ange knows the other people here can hear her, she doesn't bother to hide it, instead just clearly speaks to him out loud. She cares so much more what Fern thinks than what any of these other people do. ] She's not worth it.

[ The woman looks confused, glancing around as if she's supposed to see someone else, but not noticing the plant boy there. Instead she just frowns as she looks back at Ange. ]

What are you doing?!

You wouldn't understand. [ Despite the situation, Ange's voice is still infinitely casual. It's the usual deadpan shield she pulls up whenever she feels threatened. ] Anyway, why don't you just get on with what you wanted to do here? Didn't you come here to kill me? What, are you desperate enough for company that you instead first want to talk?

[ Of course Ange's aunt only gets more and more mad at that. She releases Ange's hair, but only so she can smack her in the face, hard enough that it topples Ange over, making her drop to the floor - where the woman gives Ange's body a hard kick. ]

You shitty brat..!

[Fern being Fern is reacting emotionally, not thinking that oh, yelling nonsense is pointless when Ange is the only one who can hear and see him. She's his friend, and he's angry, ergo - yelling at jerks for her.

Of course, yelling isn't doing anything, and things are escalating pretty badly, which only makes Fern's anger and worry grow. Even if this woman could hear him he isn't sure she'd stop, and more importantly, he's quickly wanting to do a whole lot more than just verbally berate her. It takes him only the small nudge of seeing Ange get hit to push himself over the edge. He's quickly stepping forwards to try and slug her aunt square in the face.]

Screw off, lady!!

[And to his horror, his fist goes straight through her.]

[ Since the hit doesn't connect, Ange doesn't even realise what's happening at first. It's hard to notice Fern moving from her position on the ground, after all, and it's only when she glances up and sees that translucent version of Fern standing there next to her aunt that she realised what he was doing.

That he was trying to help her out. Protect her. But.. right. This is just a memory, isn't it? Of course he can't intervene.

He never was there in her memory in the first place. ]

.. thank you. [ Ange's voice is a little softer now, and rather than staring at her aunt, she's definitely just staring at Fern himself.

Because even if it didn't work, it'd feel wrong to not thank him for trying to intervene on her part.

Ange's aunt, though, just looks more irritated at being unable to understand who Ange is even talking to here. She snaps her fingers, and that apparently seems to be some sort of wordless order for the men she brought along - because their little circle gets closer to Ange now, starting to kick her from all sides.

But what Ange can't notice because of that is the fact that Fern is slowly growing less and less seethrough. Like he's starting to truly manifest in this world now. Ange's aunt doesn't seem to notice either, considering she's way too busy watching the way Ange is getting beaten up in front of her. ]

[The feeling of hitting thin air is the absolute worst feeling in the world. There's nothing Fern hates more than this, the feeling of trying to fight back but being totally helpless. It's something he's experienced so, so many times in his life, it was a big part of him becoming Fern, and it leave him with a sick feeling in his nonexistent guts.

He isn't reassured when Ange thanks him. In fact, he only looks angrier. This awful woman is going to get away with hurting one of his friends, with her own niece.]

Family shouldn't be like this. [He's saying that through gritted teeth, and he looks like he's going to try slugging her again. But he doesn't, and for one very good reason.

Those men.

Fern doesn't notice he's losing his translucency, he's too focused on those men as they circle around Ange and start kicking her. It only takes one or two before he snaps again, lunging at one of the men. He's punching again, but this time his fist and arm are covered in thorns, and his arm is growing to be even bigger than he is.]

[ At first Ange has no idea what's going on. It's pretty hard to keep track of literally anything else when you're busy getting the shit beaten out of you, after all. It's already taking everything she's got to try and cover up strategic areas so the men don't hit anything that would take her out entirely..

.. but then the kicking suddenly stops.

The girl doesn't even realise why, but Ange will gladly take the break, rolling over so she's on her back and trying to catch her hasty breath.

It's then that she notices. There's one less of the men, a gap in the circle. Ange's head turns as quickly as she can in this situation, noticing the man on the ground, knocked out cold.. and that's when she sees Fern's arm, making it very clear what did the job.

Ange's eyes grow wide in surprise, but before she can say anything, the other men are speaking up first, all of them staring at Fern now.

"What is that?!"

"I don't care what the hell kind of monster that is, just take care of it..!"

One by one the men start pulling out their guns, which finally seems to render Ange able to use her voice again. If not just to call out, to warn: ]

Watch out, Fern..!

[Part of Fern isn't expecting the punch to land. The first one went straight through her aunt, so why would this one be any different? But he's too mad to care too much about the logic behind his actions - he's running on pure emotion here.

So he's staring, baffled as the man goes flying and hits the ground, clearly knocked out cold. That... worked. His arm returns to normal and he looks down at his fist. That actually worked!

He spins to face the other men. They've got guns, but one upside to being made of grass is that bullets don't do very much against him. Taking heed of Ange's warning, he glares and forms a sword and lunges at the nearest guy, not caring if he fires. He's going to start stabbing, slicing away neatly at limbs and finally the guy's neck to decapitate him.]

[ The man honestly doesn't even have a chance to fire. After all, all the men are very much caught off guard by what's happening here. The sudden appearance of this odd boy, the way he doesn't even look human - none of it makes sense, especially to a bunch of humans living in what they assume is a normal world. Without magic, without supernatural stuff, without anything odd.

Without anything like Fern.

The other men do fire, but they soon realise it's not doing much against the boy. It makes some of them only panic more, especially when they watch their coworkers head roll across the grass. One moves to lunge at Fern while the boy is still occupied with the previous man, but Ange tries to stop him. Her options are pretty limited, given the fact that she's still on the ground and that her body aches in places she didn't even know it could ache, but she rolls over the best she can, grabbing onto the man's ankle, and making him trip mid-jump and land face-first in the grass. ]

Oh, no, you don't..!

[The bewilderment of whoever these jerks are - hired goons or minions or something, probably - is something Fern is using to his advantage. They might be baffled as to what is happening but he isn't, and they're only normal humans so they don't stand much of a chance.

Some of the bullets tear through him, but his grass simply regrows itself and he ignores the injuries. Turning, he sees another of them faceplanting thanks to Ange, and seeing her still on the ground has him quickly stepping forward and bringing his sword down on this guy's head, too. He doesn't hesitate, and he's looking less and less human at time goes on.

A third goon is targeted, one of the ones with his gun still pointed at Fern. A quick flick of his sword and the guy is suddenly down one hand, and he screams as he drops to the ground, holding his arm.]

[ Maybe Ange should be a little bit worried about Fern's current state, or the excessive violence, but honestly.. isn't this also the way Ange ended up actually fighting her way out of this memory? The only difference is the fact that it's Fern who's here with her now, materialized into this world, rather than her own demons. It's not like they were any less bloody about this entire matter.

So if anything, Ange just feels gratitude. For the help. For the fact that she's not alone in this.

But there are quite some of the men left - and Ange's aunt herself, who seems frozen in fear at this display. Ange knows she can't just leave all of this up to Fern, even though he's strong, so she sits up, raising a hand herself. ]

Come, arise, and forgive the sin! Satan of wrath!

[ One of the stakes she always uses materializes as well, drilling itself right into the forehead of a fourth guy, dropping him to the ground, dead, as the stakes leaves the guy's head again on the other side, leaving a hole behind.

There's still four or five or so left from what Ange can tell, but they're starting to scramble more and more as they're realising they're at a disadvantage here. ]

[Fern isn't even thinking about the downsides to this being a bloodbath. All that's in his mind is getting these jerks back for what they did to Ange, and indulging in the violence that's taking over his mind.

He plants one foot on the guy's chest to make sure he stays down, Ange's words reaching his ears. He looks over in time to see the stake materialize and stab into the fourth guy, and it causes a happy grin to appear on his features.]

Nice going!

[This is now officially a team effort, and he's thrilled about that. Ignoring the guy still writhing around on the ground he suddenly moves to tackle someone new, stabbing into him repeatedly with his sword.]

[ A team effort slaughter it is. Ange glances over at Fern just for long enough to know that he's still doing okay - but then again, she's the more vulnerable one here, isn't she, all fleshy.. A single bullet would do a whole lot more bad to her than it would to him, but with the way Ange is, she can't help but worry about someone else here moreso than about herself.

Thankfully it seems like he's doing fine. Despite Fern not being the biggest guy ever around, he seems to be able to overpower these men easily..

.. it's the benefit of being a supernatural being in a totally normal world, Ange figures.

Focusing back on the other men, Ange raises her hand again. ]

Come, arise! Mammon of greed!

[ With a wave of her hand the second stake appears, and she sends them both flying, taking down more of the men.

Her breathing is kind of hard though. Getting beaten up, and then exerting herself with using magic right after, especially in this memory where she isn't as strong as she is back in Trench.. It's taking a lot out of her, and she looks visibly tired. ]

[Fern is more than happy to keep the attention of the goons so that they focus their bullets on him and not her. He's also acutely aware of her squishiness, and he'd rather not see her shot on top of the injuries she's already acquired. Thankfully, he sticks out so much even with her summoning her stakes it's pretty easy to hold their attention until it's too late.

It's viscerally satisfying to see that next stake hit another jerk, though he does notice that Ange is starting to tire out. That means he has to do double duty here but he's more than fine with that, quickly cutting another two down.

That leaves one guy left with all his limbs, and at this point he looks like he's about to have a heart attack he's so scared. His hand is shaking as he points his gun at Fern, but his nerves get the better of him at the last second and he drops it instead, turning tail and running.

Or trying to, rather. Fern sees him and goes after him, stabbing him square through the chest.]

[ When Ange turns her head, it's right at the moment when Fern is taking down that last goon. She can see him running after the man, stabbing him before the other can fully get away, leaving nothing around them but a near-sea of corpses in black suits, now stained with red.

.. well, it leaves that, and Ange's aunt. She's still standing there, shaking like a leaf in the wind. She looks panicked, almost maniacally so.

Ange slowly stands up, but the gaze she levels at the woman is calm in comparison, despite the blood sticking to Ange's own clothes, or the dirtstains on her cheeks. ]

W-What is this?! [ The woman shrieks. ]

Can't you see, aunt Kasumi? [ Ange's gaze shifts to Fern for a moment when she notices the woman sneaking a panicked look back at him as well, but then looks back at the woman. ] This is magic. .. no, it's just.. that I'm not alone anymore.

Don't.. D-Don't joke around like that!

[ As the woman shrieks, she pulls a handgun out of the folds of her kimono, raising it, pointing it at Ange's forehead, even with the distance still between them.

Ange still looks calm though. As if she's not worried about it at all - or perhaps that's just her natural pokerface. Even the way she speaks is perfectly calm, despite the situation. ]

Fern. I'm counting on you.

[That final man is felled, and Fern is left standing there, blood dripping down the blade of his sword. A normal person would be horrified by all of this, but Fern just feels satisfied he's taken care of people who were hurting someone he cares about. They're gone, they can't hurt Ange anymore, and that's the only important thing here.

As Ange climbs to her feet he looks over, glaring at her aunt thought remaining still. He'd love to go after her aunt too, but he also doesn't want to take that opportunity away from Ange to regain some control in her life if she wants it.

Though the sight of the handgun makes him take a step towards her, and at Ange's words he lunges again. With one flick of his sword he cuts straight through the air, and removes her aunt's head from her shoulders.]

[ It feels right, everything going down this way. It's oddly similar to the way it happened in her memory, yet different. Because her demon friends who helped her back there.. while Ange would struggle to still fully call them imaginary, they were born from that sort of origin.

Whereas Fern is here now. Living proof of the fact that Ange's life changed. That everything is different now - and that she's no longer alone.

So when she watches her aunt's headless body slump to the ground, the head rolling across the floor, it feels right. Rather than one of her demon friends killing her aunt like in the actual memory, it was Fern this time.

Ange releases a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Like the hurt from all the bruising is only now reaching her, along with the scent of the blood all around.

But rather than focusing on that, Ange is just stepping right over her aunt's lifeless body.. so she can reach Fern. And wrap her arms around him, even if both of them are very, very gross from the battle just now. She doesn't care. ]

.. thank you.

[ Her voice is tiny, almost a little shakey. There's a lot of emotion she's only barely containing over here. ]

Thank you.. for helping me. For not letting me be alone.

[Fern doesn't have the full context of what's going on here, and he's fairly sure there's a whole more than just Ange's jerk of an aunt being the worst person ever. But he's at least certain that she needs help, her aunt needs to go, and that's why he has no problem killing her.

He's more than a little wound up when he does it, all sharp and twitchy and wanting to keep on stabbing things, so he starts when Ange comes at him with a hug instead. Tensing up, it takes him a few moments to process that the violence part of this is done, and that he can calm down, now. His grass settles, and he slowly wraps his arms around her, too, ignoring all the blood and whatnot. That's a totally minor detail that doesn't matter in the face of Ange getting some much needed catharsis.]

You don't need to thank me for this. I'm never gonna let you be alone if I can help it, especially when it comes to stuff like this.

I want to, though. [ She wants to thank him. Even if it might be normal to him - no, basically natural - to help out a friend in need, it's not some sort of help that Ange has found comes naturally where she comes from.

So she doesn't want to forget how nice it is to have this. How special it makes her feel, to be cared for. To have a friend who is willing to go this far just to protect her.

She pauses, just sucking in a breath. Just allowing herself to enjoy the hug for a moment, and nothing else. ]

I was alone when this actually happened to me. [ The way it played out during her life, rather than in this memory. ] I didn't have any friends, so.. there was no one to jump in the way you did.

[ That's why his actions here mean so much to her. ]

return those voices echoing in the sea (closed)

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

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forgot cw: violence, assault, murder for basically this whole thread lol

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