un: localflorist | text

[anciently]

( ooc ; likely spoilers for rebirth endgame chapters within )

[ One moment she's there, in her apartment, and the next...back on Gaia. With no memories of the city, the other world, where she'd been for months, fighting to save the planet she'd been unceremoniously returned to. And then...after so much on the home front, she'd found herself right back in Etraya: her memories of the time before in tact, as well as the memories of the things she'd been through in the interim. The things Cloud had already known about, but kept from her.

After she reappears and processes all the memories, she has to recuperate a bit. Without anyone around, the usually-cheery Aerith doesn't have to mask her expression, and sits in her apartment, letting it all break over her like unceasing waves onto someone whose feet are thoroughly stuck in the sand. (It's not unlike when her plushie was destroyed, honestly, which feels like ages ago.) When that's...more or less done, she reaches for her phone.

She doesn't leave the unit, doesn't go down the hall. Yet.

In crafting a message to the network, she opts for text because, this time, she doesn't trust herself to keep a straight enough face. To keep all of what's happened - disappearing from this world, returning to her own with no memories of Etraya, and...the weight of their journey at home - from her voice. So, she takes a deep breath and begins typing, eventually sending out: ]

long time no see, etraya! or, maybe it hasn't been that long, considering all of the plant life at my place is still in good shape.

so...has anybody been back home? that is: was brought here, then went back somehow with no memories of ever having been here, then got pulled back again? consider me curious about the details.

i know i can't be the only one. right?

also...if there're any kind souls out there who don't mind giving me a little refresher on our current mission, it'd be much appreciated. thanks!

Comments

[anciently]

[ ...It's okay, right? It's not like it's Cloud, where things are-...complicated. ]

at my place. i'll unlock the door.

thanks, fabian.

[redheadcarrier]

well

that's fine i guess. it does sound nice.

[plangona]

wow seriously?

if she had no idea about it happening or any records of it, that makes it even more weird.

[prevail]

Then I did indeed meet your Cloud.

[ Her Cloud now. ]

I expect that's intentional. Putting us "at ease".

[anciently]

maybe...they bring us here from whichever point they think would give us the best chance to advocate for our world.
maybe. not sure if that's too optimistic.

she said there's no data saying i left and came back, and that she needed more info.

[anciently]

see?
that wasn't so hard, was it? ;D

🎀

[hauntedsnowfall]

[ Dimitri will consider this and weigh his options. He appreciates user name: localflorist. ]

[redheadcarrier]

Uggggh

I guess not.

moving to action!

[maximumlegend]

[ There's no reply back.

Mostly because Fabian immediately is on his way. Usually he'd at least be polite enough to knock in a situation like this, but-- well, she must have said that she was leaving the door unlocked on purpose, so after he's made his way over to her place, he just opens the door and enters without doing that.

All he does do, just to make sure she knows it's him, is call out: ]

Aerith?

→ action

[reconstruction]

Expect me in 10 minutes.

[he questions why the door to a church wouldn't be open, but if it's from her universe, maybe she likes to keep it locked if she's not there.

he arrives 10 minutes on the dot, stalls for half a second to determine if he should knock or not - it's a church. he knocks before entering anyway. he strolls in, head tilting up immediately to look at the gap in the ceiling, then back down, gaze settling on Aerith. his focus is on her, but he's able to take in everything else, too: the flowers, the altar.]

Hello? Aerith, right? [he's memorized anyone who's made their identity known on the network, especially if they've only kept one username.] I'm Connor.

[once he's close enough, he holds out his hand for a shake, accompanied by a small smile.]

It's nice to meet you.

[tinflower]

let's hope she can find something out. i don't know how good or safe people blinking in and out from here is

it could help us get people back home or do something if they don't know what's wrong. but we would need a lot more to go off to do anything about it
and i don't know if that would actually work. but it would be good if it did

[anciently]

exactly.
said she'd have to look more into it, but...
it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.
makes a lot of questions, though.

[anciently]

so? what'd you think?
of cloud, i mean.

definitely.
and that's kinda disturbing, the more you think about it.

[prevail]

Never before have I seen such spiky hair.

[ ...Look he can't help that this really stood out to him. ]

I agree with you. It doesn't feel right.

[anciently]

doubt it's good OR safe.
in my experience? it's at least really disorienting.
we already get messed around with enough here as it is...

we need a lot more info...but if we can figure it out, yeah. i think it'd be a big asset.
i'll keep you posted, kay?

[anciently]

Hey.

[ When Fabian enters the apartment and calls out, Aerith rises from the couch with a weak smile. It's not like when Cloud had come by, when she'd felt more compelled than usual to mask her true feelings. Things are...complicated, when it comes to people from home. Cloud more than anyone.

So, she lets her expression betray more of the conflict beneath the surface than she might usually. ]

Thanks...for coming by. [ There's a pause, and she shakes her head weakly. ] I'm still sorting things out. It was pretty disorienting to go back and forth like that, even if time didn't pass in either place while I wasn't there.

[anciently]

[ Aerith's not sure anyone's ever knocked before. This occurs to her as Connor enters, drawing out a little smile as she rises to look his way. ]

That's me! Nice to meet you, Connor. [ In this moment, she realizes, idly, that there are a handful of people she's 'met' via the network, but never spoken to in person. Never heard their voice, even. Weird. It's nice not adding to that list this time. ] Appreciate you coming over.

[ To meet her where she is, anyway. The church is...a comfort place, to put it mildly, and with the recent chaos of having gone back home out of nowhere (and all the experiences she'd had there), it'd been nice to not have to leave.

Aerith folds her hands in front of her where she stands, tilting her head in question. ]

So...multiverses?

[tinflower]

yeah thanks
hope you don't feel funny or get any side effects

[plangona]

yeah me either. did you find out how long you were gone for? maybe the that could have something to do with it.

[maximumlegend]

No need to thank me. I mean, you were there too-- [ A slight pause, and then just: ] Last time.

[ Like he's having a hard time admitting to the full extent of what had been going on with him back there, even now.. But it's still not like he wants to straight up deny what Aerith had done for him. It had been so kind on her part, so this feels like the least he can do in return for her. Especially when her trouble feels so much bigger than his own stupid problems.

Fabian closes the door behind him, making his way over to the couch. He makes the kind of hand gesture that indicates it's okay, that she can just continue to sit down, before joining her on said couch. ]

And.. Yes, I can only imagine. Having to adjust to being back home, and then having to adjust to being here again-- It ought to have been a lot, especially if there might have been a lot going on back there.

[ A slight pause, and then, emphatically but subtly, like he doesn't want to be too pushy about this: ] Was there?

[anciently]

hehe. right?
he's got that in common with a chocobo.
though i guess there it's feathers, not hair...

[reconstruction]

Not a problem.

[his tone is pleasant; everything about him is pleasant. he has questions of his own about the church, why it's here and what significance it has for her, but those saved for another time.]

Yes. [his next words might sound like they're being pulled directly from a source, which is exactly what he's doing.] It's called the quantum multiverse theory - a hypothetical set of all universes. You live in yours, while other observable universes exist. I've found that while staying on Etraya, anything that could exist, can. I've met someone here that exists in my world, but not in the same way.

[he stops, looking at her curiously as if to ask: are you following?]

[anciently]

yeah.
i was gone for no time at all.
like, literally. it was between one second and the next.
like i'd never left...

[anciently]

[ It's happening again. She's standing on a precipice of the truth, and his question could finally have her take the plunge and tell someone about-...everything.

She hovers there, looking over the cliff's edge. It's a long way down.

Slowly, she steps back. ]

Yeah. [ Aerith finally answers, adopting the ghost of a smile. ] One minute I was here, then I was back, and I'd forgotten everything about Etraya. And then...so much happened. [ She shakes her head with a bit of an air of hopelessness, though that's not her usual M.O. ] Back home, we're facing...a huge threat. Someone who's incredibly powerful. I-... [ Almost died. Died. Have died before. ] ...Sometimes, I'm not sure we'll be able to stop him. Even though I tell myself we can, if we just...stick together, and put everything we have into this mission.

[ There's a little sigh before she meets his gaze again. ]

So - yeah. That was a lot, and then I was here again, and no time had passed at all. And I remembered everything.

[ All the good. All the bad. ]

The weirdest thing is, I talked to Aurora, and she can't explain it. And according to the others, nobody's been through this before. Until now, that is. [ There's a mirthless chuckle, a half-hearted shrug. ] Lucky me, right?

[anciently]

"Not in the same way?" [ She's following - even more than he might guess - but has to clarify a few things first. ] So...when one of my friends came to the city, his memories went past mine. Like he'd experienced more of our time together than I had, or...he'd been brought here from further ahead in time than me. Like that?

[ Not to mention all the-...everything...from home. Not yet, anyway. ]

Is Etraya different from your home in that way?