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]

i'm hearing that a lot.
glad it wasn't just me who didn't realize this could happen.

yeah.
when all this is finished...we may not remember it at all.

[ She finishes the thought for him, but...it's a tough pill to swallow. There are so many incredible people here that she's come to know, and the idea that they might vanish from her memory back home is...gut wrenching. ]

now that we know about it though, we can fight it.
find a way to remember. i'm sure of it.

[prevail]

[ Though Sandalphon clings to rationality like some ideal he can never fully realize himself, he finds himself hoping that Aerith is right. The corrosion of memory isn't natural to him and so neither is his erasure.

He doesn't want to forget the people he's met here... The way he has now forgotten an important face. ]

I hope you're right. My kind have long memories, whether we wish it or not. To lose something that has never so much as dulled is a disturbing notion.

Besides, I've considered that some may seek refuge in other worlds after saving their own. Though that may be a long way off, it'd be distressing to forget where they've come to and why.

[anciently]

i'm sure it's unsettling, if you're used to having everything seem crystal-clear.

and that's a great point! they shouldn't lose that chance.
not now that we know all these other worlds are out there.

if you hear of any leads about this stuff, let me know?
i'll do the same. i'm gonna start by talking to aurora.

[prevail]

I expect most of us would prefer a say in whether we forget.

[ That, regardless of species, is surely universal. ]

Yes, I can let you know. Regarding Aurora, I'd suggest having company. Cloud, perhaps.

[ Just to be safe. Given what they have been put through, their well-being doesn't necessarily strike him as among the priorities. Caution strikes him as best. ]

[anciently]

definitely...

oh! you've met?
he's the guy i was talking about way back when.

i'll be careful though.
not that i've had any bad interactions with aurora.
but it can't hurt to be a little extra careful in this place.

[prevail]

We did, a short while ago. He was "not shopping" in the clothing store. And you were assigned spouses during the mission, I believe.

Exercising caution is best when we're on uncertain ground. Not to mention, they have power over us.

[anciently]

"not shopping," huh? sounds like cloud.
and yep, that's me! fake wife reporting for duty!

that's for sure.
sometimes things are so...almost normal around here that you can forget.

[prevail]

Then I did indeed meet your Cloud.

[ Her Cloud now. ]

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

[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]

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