(no subject)

[frogfear]

Who: Willow Rosenberg (frogfear) and you!
What: Open and Closed Starters
When: Throughout March
Where: Throughout Trench

Content Warnings: Amnesia, probably mentions of death, hallucinations - will update as necessary

Comments

Archives and around Trench (OTA - cw for amnesia, mushroom hallucinations)

[frogfear]

[During the day, Willow can be found throughout the town. She spends a fair amount of her time at the Archives, trying to relearn what she's forgotten about Trench, and searching for a solution for both her memory loss, and the mushrooms she keeps seeing that aren't actually there.

In the Archives, she can be found perusing the stacks for books, or trying to brush imaginary fungi off the shelves so she can read the titles, or sitting at a table, trying to read the books she's found.

She can be found elsewhere in the town as well, as she looks for familiar spaces and things that might help her jog her memory. She keeps a hand in her pocket, on the teleportation talisman Ford had given her when Maul first threatened her that will activate with a drop of blood to take her to the safety of his lab. Knowing she has an easy way out should trouble find her helps her feel a bit more comfortable while exploring the city.

As in her wolf form, she will startle more easily if approached unexpectedly, but she's also more likely to linger in more crowded spaces where if something goes wrong, at least there are people around who might be able to help.]

(HI, HALLUCINATING BUDDY]

[imaglyphwitch]

Sadly, due to her whole being corrupted in March Luz had missed out on several things, including Willow's passing. That being the case, her recent encounter with Tara had reminded Luz she wanted to seek her out again, as now that things seemed to be calming down again. Luz had not forgotten that she wanted to touch base on her witchery and finding another witch had only deepened her want to get back to performing HER magic again.

Unfortunately, Luz's mistake was thinking that things had calmed down at all, or that HER magic included her Pale blood.

As she was walking out of Cassandra to maybe visit the newly created arcade for the third time this week, Luz spotted the familiar red hair and walked over to greet her.

"Heya, Willow! How've you been?"

[frogfear]

Willow is thoroughly distracted by mushrooms blooming over a sign - what store is that even? It's frustrating, particularly since she knows they're not really there. It's fine, none of it really ringing any bells anyway, which is an entirely separate source of frustration.

She jumps when Luz greets her, and turns around. The girl looks a little familiar - Willow is pretty sure she was in Deerington too, but apparently they know each other, and she can't remember it. It's not... exactly a new experience, but she smiles sheepishly as she returns the greeting. "Oh, um, hi."

[imaglyphwitch]

If they were only talking about that in particular: Luz had an idea that the mushrooms weren't really there, but she kept seeing them everywhere along with several different things that were jumping out at her and giving her a fright.

Spotting Willow, she at least thought that she'd get some kind of acknowledgement that was more than a thin "hi." It was as if Willow didn't recog-

Wait a moment.

"Willow? You recognize me, right?"

[frogfear]

There's no point in denying it. The girl seems to be particularly perceptive and even with just a greeting has figured out Willow doesn't actually remember her.

She shrugs a little and the smile turns apologetic. "No, I'm sorry. I kind of don't right now. I'm guessing we met here?"

[imaglyphwitch]

Hmm. This should have bothered Luz, and it did, but not as much as she would have expected. People HAD lost their memories in Deerington after all, it would make sense that the same thing would happen in Trench. What would cause it was really the question, and she had a feeling she had the answer.

"We're just starting to get to know each other actually. But you forgot? What's the last thing that you can remember?"

[frogfear]

She's not about to tell Luz about dying - she is a kid, and even if it's Trench, Willow still feels inclined to shield young people from the horror of the world, much like they had always tried to protect Dawn at home.

Besides, a lot of people here are close to Maul, and enough harm has been done.

"Uhh, yeah. Some effect of the town, I guess. I, uh, the last thing I remember is the beach between this world and Deerington," she answers. "It'll probably pass, I guess. It's just a matter of waiting it out."

[imaglyphwitch]

Boy, if she thought she was protecting Luz from the horror of the world, Luz had a lot to tell her. Between torture, near death experiences and falling into other people's memories which were far worse than her own, Luz's capacity for trauma had grown exponentially.

"But the town doesn't spontaneously cause amnesia, not that I've heard of. That's the kind of thing that happens when someone, well, dies. That's where things get tricky too, because there are a number of ways that would happen."

If Willow had amnesia, how would she even remember how that happened?

[frogfear]

"I'm not sure what happened," Willow answers with a little shrug. "The whole... you know, no memory of it thing, but from what I've been told, most of these kinds of things here go away once the moon changes, so I guess probably the only thing to do at this point is to wait and see."

[imaglyphwitch]

"I could probably ask around, but maybe it would be better to just wait and see."

It was honestly frustrating to admit that, and even worse to think that Willow might not even remember her.

"But you remember Tara, right?"

[frogfear]

"We're looking into it already," Willow answers. "The going theory, though, is that - like everything else here, apparently - it will probably resolve itself on its own even if we don't find another answer."

She doesn't remember Luz, or magic lessons, or anything else about Trench, but Tara came before all of that, and while she may have had to be caught up on how things stand now, she hasn't completely forgotten her.

"Yeah, no, I still remember Tara."

[imaglyphwitch]

Luz pouted but nodded her head. She had still yet to die herself, here or in Deerington, so she'd be the last person who would know how all of that played out. It was a little sad not to be remembered, but logically it made sense. Had Luz died, she might have forgotten everything too except up to Deerington's fall.

"Oh, well, that's good. She seemed happy to know you're back. She's still adjusting to this place too, after all. It'd be awful if she ran into you and you didn't know her."

[frogfear]

Tara's happy to know she's back? Willow's a little unsure what that means, but she guesses that Luz just means Tara's happy to be reunited with her. She feels the same way, except now things are complicated, but again, it's not a matter to be troubling a fourteen year old over.

"I'm glad she's here too. But yeah, I still remember Deerington, and home, it's just here that's kind of... absent right now. Like I said, though, I'm sure it'll come back in time."

[unphase]

[Tinya's still exploring the city as best as she can. she has her Legion flight ring in case things go poorly and realized that while her inborn powers may be malfunctioning, she has ice, fire, and lightning at her command. pretty cool, given that most Legionnaires only had one super-power.

but she's in the Archives, trying to research why her powers have gone haywire. she can still see the layers of dimensions, including the Phantom Zone. she should be fine, but she's not.

when she sees the other young woman dusting imaginary fungi off of the books, Tinya merely assumes that she's dusting them off. they reach for the same book at the same time, but Tinya acquieces and smiles]

You go ahead. After all, it's not like the books are going anywhere. Right?

[it's more of a real question than a hypothetical]

[frogfear]

Oh, um, no. No, it's fine. It's all yours.

[Really, she was just trying to see what the title was. It's not a book she actually needs, so she's happy to let the other woman have it. Everything feels so brand new all over again, she's really not fussy over what books she grabs at this point, although her focus right now is on common symptoms post-reincarnation.]

That's not what I was looking for anyway.

[unphase]

You're sure?

[granted, she's used to getting her way. that's what kind of happens when one grows up as part of a planet's closest thing to a first family.

but she's nice. both in response to and rebellion against her mother.

it's about the local political structure, something which utterly confuses her]

Oh? Well, maybe I can help you find it? Granted, I'm pretty sure this place doesn't follow any sort of formal division of subjects.

[frogfear]

Yeah, I'm sure - go for it.

[Willow smiles a little and gives an encouraging nod towards the book as she withdraws a little to look over the next shelf. She still pauses occasionally to brush a mushroom out of the way so she can read the titles on the spines.

She glances back to the other woman and her eyebrows lift.]

Uh, yeah, sure, I wouldn't say no to help it's, uh, kind of a morbid subject though. I'm looking for stuff on how reincarnation works here. Like, the effects after and stuff.

[unphase]

All right. [and she snatched the book away, one about being resurrected and restored. it may have of been a different, but she'd died a long time ago and been restored by many others.

but if anyone asked by her second body, she'd laugh nervously and claim it was within a second body's scope. taking the master's appearance and mister or the second one's.

and Tinya smiles at the other young woman's, not seeing any mushrooms.

she apparently looked even more than a second than a one too many after all]

Oh, um. I kind of have an interest in that? Kind of? 'Cause I died in another world and was brought back to life, only it's. Like the rebirth didn't even happen? If that makes sense?

[does she sound stupid? she sounds stupid]

[frogfear]

[Willow knows a bit about resurrection from her own world as well, but she's past the point where she's willing to talk much about it. All of it is a particularly dangerous branch of magic, and there's only one such spell she's ever known to work, and even then, only in a very specific set of circumstances.]

I think so... So you were brought back to life, but when you came here, it's like whatever changes happened when you were brought back in your own world just aren't a thing here?

(CW: death)

[unphase]

[she remembers a brief, yet agonizing moment of pain, then nothing. until her spirit felt strong enough to be seen by others. even then, only her boyfriend, now husband, and her mother could see her. it wasn't an experience she ever wanted to repeat, especially as she had no idea where her third self was]

Well, not quite. I died and was sent to the other world for three years. Then I went back home for three years, back to the other world for a few months. Now I'm here. I seem to be zipping along the cosmos like a pinball.

[frogfear]

[Willow looks entirely sympathetic as she nods along as Tinya explains how she's been ping ponged into various worlds over the last several years. Her own journey has been shorter and as far as she's aware, she's still alive and well at home, but she can empathize with how bracing the back and forth can be.]

I've known a few other people who were, or are, in the same boat. I don't have any answers to the whys or hows for you, though, sorry. I hope you find something, though.

[unphase]

[Tinya appreciates the sympathy. for all she says and does to try and be strong and not let her circumstances break her, she still appreciates it when people acknowledge that the past three years had basically sucked. and she misses her son and her husband more than she can say.

a rueful smile] Well. At least it's not just me? I was kind of starting to wonder what I did to piss off the cosmos for it to be doing this to me. I mean, I came back from the dead once, someone must like me. But someone else must really not like me. Or is it a fluke? [and a warmer smile] Thank you, so do I.

[frogfear]

It's definitely not just you. It was a thing in Deerington too - the dream Trench came from. I knew a few people who went through the same thing.

[She's never really dug into the hows or the whys of Sleepers being brought here, or the dream after death, though. Mostly, she's just been glad to see them alive and well again.]

Coming back from the dead here, though, is definitely a way more common thing. At least, from what we've seen so far anyway.

[unphase]

All right, just so long as I'm not telling myself that I'm going mad. I wasn't sure how common it was to hop from home to another world. Then home again and yet another world. [she sighs and looks dejected. her husband and son have never felt further away]

Really? And it was an automatic coming back from the dead? [hers had cost her far more than she was ever going to be willing to admit]

[frogfear]

No, even the world hopping thing isn't really unusual here. I know a lot of people who came here from Deerington, and some of us ended up back home again at one point or another too.

[She still sometimes misses the people she was closest to back home, but especially with Tara - and to a lesser extent, Faith - Sunnydale doesn't seem quite so far away any more.]

I think so. You just kind of go back to being a squid in the ocean until you come back to shore again.