Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Drowned Ophelia Who knows why she's wandering. She doesn't even know; Awoken from a nightmare, feeling unsteady - that age old ache for the black waters that she's had to shake off most of her life. It just seemed a lot stronger now, for some reason. And those -people- claiming to be friends, saying how she'd somehow forgotten things..?
She couldn't even call it bullshit until she got her head on straight. So she went walking. That was the easiest thing - just get busy.
Something in her drew her steps here. That pain in her chest was a mild irritant for right now, but what worried her is that it was -new-. Flashing from one gate to another, until here she was. Her sneakers moving along unknown streets filled with unknown humans and monsters. She was hesitant at first, keeping to the sides. But now? Now she's almost used to the press of the mob around her. In the midst of this colorful array of inhumanity and bizaare wonders, a brown haired girl in a black shirt was practically invisible. She still kept her palms on the hilts of her twin swords, though, pausing here and there to stare in confusion at one offer or another. But still she moved on, following some invisible, half understood thread.

THEMESONG: Black Sabbath - 'Mob Rules'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq04uFYUi0E
Staren     Staren may have moved out and all but stopped his work in the family repair business, but he still sort of sees Lazlo as home. Also, he has perfectly mundane reasons to visit, like bank stuff (Staren keeps most of his money in Lazlo's bank -- small amounts in NGMI and black market credits for dealing with traders, his Union account for dealing with other stuff in the Multiverse, and some coinage in Equestrian gold bits and one of the silver coinages Creation uses for dealings in those respective worlds) and grocery shopping when he wants meat that isn't vat-grown or alien.

    So it is that Staren's just walking out of a grocery store when he happens to see Ophelia in the crowd. "Ophelia!" He calls, running over. "Ophelia, what are you doing here?"
Drowned Ophelia Forgotten Ophelia, Queen of Nothing, snaps her head aside as someone calls her name. Hands grip the pomel of her sword, knuckles white for a moment; Spooked. Staring at Staren, until comprehension dawns. "Oh. You're one of .. them. My friends?" She sounds uncertain, lips twisting to the side. Before shaking it off. She doesn't smile, but her hands do leave the swords at last as she crosses her arms.
"I don't know." She replies honestly, the words bitter on her tongue. "Chest was hurting, and I've still got no clue what's going on." She turns her head aside, watching another SOMETHING wander past, eyes locked on its four legged stride before she looks back to Staren. Eyes drifting up towards cat-ears, down to cat tail.
".. I let my shoes lead. Do you live here? Maybe I'm looking for you."
Staren     Staren tilts his head to the side. "Well... we /could/ be friends. If you want." He smiles awkwardly. As she asks if he lives here, he slips his hands into his pockets. "I grew up here, I moved out about a year ago. Why would you be looking for me?"
Drowned Ophelia "I don't -know-."
States Ophelia, throwing her hands up. Arms recross over her chest as she stares down at her own sneakers, thinking. ".. I don't think I like you, but I don't know why. I know you're not human." She looks up, through the tresses of her own brown hair. ".. And I know this isn't my world." She points a finger up. "My sky was never blue."
She finally drops her arms, and runs a hand through her hair. "Look, can we.. go somewhere? I want to know what happened. And I think you're the only person who's offered to explain it without treating me like some damn infirm."
Staren     Staren folds his arms. "You probably don't like me because we fought when you were high on evil. And I'm half-human, actually."

    He looks up at the sky at that comment. "What color was it?"

    Then he looks back at her. "Sure. Um... have you had breakfast yet?" He leads her down the street to a nearby diner. It's normal enough, though the patrons are almost as varied as the rest of the populace, and soon a server comes to take their order. He has red skin and little spiny growths on his chin and the back of his head, and two prominent horns on his forehead. Staren looks to him, "Um... You know what? As long as I'm here, some greasy breakfast food. Sausages and bacon with I dunno, pancakes. Wait no, hash browns. Yeah. And some soda." He looks across the table to Ophelia. "You want anything?"
Drowned Ophelia "Evil?"
There is a cloud across Ophelia's face for a moment, lost in thought. Another slow trickle of black ichor from the corner of her eye as she rubs her temple, trying to remember. And then she's distracted again, tilting her head back to look up.
"Mostly storms. Reds, purples. Greens and pinks near the cold mountains, ribboning across the sky. Blacks and greys the further you go east, towards the dying lands. But that's cut off from the rest of us once the bridge fell.. But never blue. Not in my life."

And then she shakes her head, and follows the cat-boy down the street, sitting at the table. Doing her best not to be the confused newcomer to the world, still quietly rubbing her forehead. "Half human? I don't even know what that means. Was one parent human and the other demon, or..?" She sighs, and shrugs. "Uh. Do you have a beer tree in this world? Or raptorelk?"
Staren     Staren furrows his brow slightly at the trickle. "Huh. Your sky sounds pretty." He bristles a bit when she says 'demon'. "Not every being from another world is a demon. Don't call anyone a demon here." The server is rolling his eyes. Given their appearance, devilmen hear something like that a lot. Hell, it's even in their nickname!

    "But yes, my mother is from another world. Extraversal, alien, whatever you want to call them... around here we say 'd-bees', short for 'dimensional beings'."

    He shakes his head. "We don't have a beer tree as far as I know. I've never heard of one on any world, though I've seen a bacon tree. Raptor-elk... I don't know. I haven't heard of it, but I'd hardly be surprised to see a creature matching that description somewhere on this world."
Drowned Ophelia "Look, in my world there were three things."
Begins Ophelia, counting them off on her black fingered nails. "Demons. Humans. ... Tear Drinkers. There were more before the time of the Titans, if you believe the runes. But that's all that's left now." And then she settles back again, closing her eyes as she simply nods. "D-bees."
"It was beautiful. Lonely, but beautiful. The sky was always alive. I traveled all over the Brutal Lands, as much as I could between the beasts and the demons. It was never the same sky." Eyes open up once more, even as she shrugs. "Grease, then. And beer, if your world has it." That cool gaze is once more turned towards Staren, flicking up to his ears. A thoughtful frown.
"How else did I know you? Only as an enemy?"
Staren     "Brutal lands?" Staren echoes. The server notes their order and walks off.

    "'Fraid so." Staren rubs his hands together a little nervously. "I'm not good at redeeming enemies instead of killing them, but I take the chance whenever I can. You I wouldn't have... expected to be saveable, but two friends of mine thought you could be saved, and they were right. I'm glad you get to have a future of more than sadness and madness and death."

    "I'm not sure exactly what happened... something about... you were really sad about something, and drowned yourself in the sea of tears, whatever that is. Then you went around trying to spend sadness and grief. If you weren't crazy, I don't know if we could have fought you off. Well, without a lot more casualties, anyway. Does any of this sound familiar?"
Drowned Ophelia "Mm hm. The time after the death of the great Fire Beast is known as the Brutal Age. So.. the Brutal Lands."
A shrug of shoulders, Ophelia staring at the table top as Staren speaks. Her face is twisting into further confusion, even as she struggles to keep herself placid and unaffected. But that slowly twists into something approaching outrage as Staren keeps speaking about madness and death -
And just as suddenly smooths. "The Sea of Black Tears." Her gaze lifts from the table, looking right through the Demon-Man - black ichor slipping from her eyes, crawling along her cheek to drop from her chin. Sizzling against the table top. She turns to fully face Staren, expression quiet and unreadable.
And then she grimaces, pushing away from the table without another word. Sneakers kicking up a bit of dust as she quickly walks away from the cat-man, without another word.
Staren     Staren stands up. "Hey, wait!" He places a black credstick on the table and follows Ophelia. "Wait! My friends worked so hard to save you! You can't just... please don't like go crazy again or whatever! We can talk this out! You want honest truths? I'm not holding anything back, I really /do/ want to see you have a bright future instead of a dark one!"
Drowned Ophelia Ophelia turns, swiping her hand through the air at chest level. Practically hissing. "I -know- you're lying. I would.. I would -never-. The Sea of Black Tears is -evil-. It took everything from me. Everything from -us-, everything away from the human tribes. And I've had to deal with that .. that -taint- my whole life because of-." She snaps her teeth shut, before continuing. "And you're going to sit there and tell me I threw myself into its black grip?"
She's breathing hard, swaying suddenly to lean against a lightpost. Gripping her shirt over her heart, before bending over to rest the palms of her hands on her knees. Coughing, a few patters of black ichor striking the ground. She sniffs, wiping a fist over her nose before straightening up again. The ichor halting - for now. Still holding onto that lightpole for balance, though, knuckles white.
"Fine. Honest truth. Who are you, really? And what do you -want- from me?"
Staren     Staren stops and considers this. "...Hmm. You have a point, I don't actually /know/ you did. I was inferring from something others said about someone driving you to extreme grief, but for all I know, someone pushed you in."

    He looks at her a bit sadly. "I'm Staren. From this Free City of Lazlo. I work as a researcher and problem solver for the Union... although they're often problems that just need to be shot with a lot of lead, explosives, or high-energy particles. I want you to be a good person, or at least a peaceful one. At least not... I don't want anyone to be able to say we should have killed you instead of purifying you."

    He looks away for a moment. "...There's one thing I'm not telling you, although it too is a suspicion rather than a fact. I /can/ say that I am /not/ the person to talk to you about it. Kotone will back me up on that. She's someone who came to help purify you, despite..." He scratches his head awkwardly. "The thing you became made an evil clone of her that wants to kill her. And she was still willing to see you purified, helped, instead of killed."
Drowned Ophelia Ophelia is silent, the anger and confusion drained out of her as Staren speaks. Her chin dips, hair falling in front of her face once more. Black tears quietly pattering against the ground, silent as the grave. ".. If I was drowned, you should have killed me. Nothing comes back from the Sea of Black Tears unchanged. No one." She finally looks up, expression empty as an overturned cup.
"You can't save a Tear Drinker. I've tried. I've tried everything I could think of. The best thing you can do is end their misery." She shudders, drawing breath once more. Swallowing the lump in her throat, eyes closed. And then she's still again. ".. So, whatever you did, thank you. I don't know why I don't like you; You.. seem like a nice thing. Person. But I'm going now; Don't find me again. It's safer for you that way."
She'll wait a moment more, eyes drifting up for a moment. A sad smile drifting across her features. "I do like your blue sky. It's cleaner, somehow. Wish I'd seen it before."
Staren     "I didn't say you weren't changed, though noone knows exactly how yet." He shrugs. "It's alright, I'm not very likeable. Um... Look, I'm paying for the meal anyway, so won't you at least eat it? We can have them package it up for you to eat elsewhere, if you want."
Drowned Ophelia Forgotten Ophelia turns her head, looking back at the crowded road behind her. And all the unknown it promises. Then her gaze turns back to the cat man, chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. Before sighing, and dropping her hand from the post; How she manages to keep from stabbing herself with those spiked braclets is anyone's guess. Sneakers kick up a slow bit of dust as she finally approaches again, settling herself back on the seat.
".. At least you've got answers. Lies or otherwise." She frowns. Then looks aside again, and up to the cat ears. Before reaching up to touch one.
Fluffy ear.
Staren     Staren returns to his seat, and tries to remain stonefaced as she reaches for the ear. Well, apparently she's never seen a nonhuman person before, so it's understandable. The ear flicks reflexively. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
Drowned Ophelia Huh.
Returning her hand to herself, Ophelia places both upon the table. Staring at her black nails; At least -that- hasn't changed. Her gaze flicks back up before she nods.
"The others. If you were all my enemies - why did you call yourselves my friends? That doesn't make any sense. I don't.. remember them. Exactly." The frown. ".. But I don't think I like any of them. I don't know why."
Staren     "I said I was willing to /be/ your friend, if you'd like. As to others' motivations... I can only guess. But in the hero business, we have to kill a /lot/ of people. Maybe seeing one they could save was a refreshing change. Maybe they just believe everyone's life has value. Me, I'm trying to make the best future, and I do think that everyone's life has value."
Drowned Ophelia "You sound like Lars."
Smirks Ophelia aside, another shudder running through her. A dark frown tugging at her lips. "Lars. I need to get home, and tell him what I found... " Pitter patter, goes the ichor upon the counter top. ".. Don't I..?"
Another shake of the head, before she puts her chin on her fist. "So, is that what you guys do? Run around and try to save people?"
Staren     Staren shrugs, he doesn't know who Lars is.

    "Pretty much. ...I mean... Yeah. Everyone has their reasons. I can give you a philosophical treatise if you really want. I have a lot of academic reasons, but... I... Sometimes I think of people in bad situations, with no hope. Noone to help them. Someone has to do something. I could've been them if I wasn't lucky, and I'd want someone to help me, right?"
Inga Freyjasdottir Suddenly, Inga! It had taken her a while to here, as she'd been unsure about bringing a horse to a modern city like this one. So, she'd walked. And Inga walks slowly.

Inga finally appears, approaching the table, dressed in more modern clothing--a long black skirt and a light blue cashmere sweater. She still wears most of her jewelry and talismans however. "Ah, there you are," she says.
Drowned Ophelia "Depends on who's coming to help."

State Ophelia darkly, fingers taping out a staccato on the table top. "Sometimes its better to just do it alone." But outside of that, she doesn't conflict with Staren's words. Out of questions for the moment, her hand across her mouth. That thousand yard star-
OH GOD IT's INGA. She blinks aside, looking between Staren and Inga. The frown on her face smoothing out to a placid expression, before she finally turns in her seat. Apparently trying to think of where to even start.
".. Here I am." She finally manages, weakly. Before looking between the two of them again. ".. So, coming back around to it. Why me? There're lots of.. lots of -them-."
Staren     "Some people can't help themselves." Staren replies.

    "Lots of whom? ...'Tear drinkers'? You're the only one of... whatever you were, that we've encountered. But we haven't been to your world much."
Ainsley Ainsley is tagging along with Inga. She has a variety of gauze patches and bandages on her scales where she got struck by that black glass before. She moves at a slow pace, and stays just behind Inga as if she were some kind of bodyguard.

When they locate Staren and Ophelia, her eyes fixate on Ophelia carefully. She doesn't say much, at least until Ophelia asks 'why me.'

"We helped you because you were hurting my friends," she states, plainly and directly, "Nothing special beyond that. The suffering just had to stop, for both sides."

"I'm Ainsley," she adds, and then she awkwardly stands to the side, having not been invited to sit down. It's clear she's uneasy with Ophelia's presence, though she has no trouble making eye contact when needed.
Inga Freyjasdottir Inga takes a seat, smiling softly, perhaps a bit uneasily. "It is as Ainsley says," she confirms, ordering a coffee.
Drowned Ophelia Ophelia slides out of her seat as well when Ainsley shows up - her hand naturally dropping to the pomel of her left-most sword. It is with a brief hesitation that she lifts her arms, crossing them over her chest. Chin down as Ainsley speaks, a brief silence. A tug at her lower lip with teeth, before they move to a thin line.
".. I still don't believe you. I wouldn't-. There's nothing in the brutal lands left that would make me want to ... partake." She raises her head, looking at both for just a moment. "I don't think either of you appreciate how much it has stolen from my world."
A deep, slow breath. "But okay. So I was hurting your friends, and instead of killing me, you - somehow pulled me from its black fingers." And now her arms drop, and she focuses on Ainsley.
"How can it be done again? There are others who.." A turn of the head. "Others. Just others. If you can do this, then.. then we can defeat the Coil. We can free the lands."
Ainsley "It isn't something I can teach to others."
Not the most encouraging thing to say to someone needing that kind of hope. Ainsley smiles warily as she says it, as if giving mild bad news to someone, though she knows it's much more frustrating than that for someone who clearly needs that kind of hope. "Just for you, it required several very strong soldiers and we still got hurt in the process... and I am pretty sure that it is a temporary solution. But... There is hope. There is more we can do. It will just take time." She looks aside and down, and back up to Ophelia. She turns her Sight on for a moment, checking for the truth of what she said. If the presence of that Sorrow was bubbling back up then she would have to confirm it before she proceeded down this train of thought. Her eyes glowed for a moment, and then closed after she got a good look at Ophelia, looking a little strange and magical but doing no apparent harm.
Inga Freyjasdottir Inga truly is sympathetic. "I have seen your world...I have seen a lot of things, through your eyes and my own. I know your world is in a difficult state. I will help how I am able...but it is a very large job and yours is not the only world in need of help. But I will do what I can, think of new ways..." Inga closes her eyes a moment, sighs.

She has a feeling what needs to be done, and no idea if they can do it.
Drowned Ophelia Ophelia drops her head again, lips a thin line at that.
"Temporary." She repeats. The slow trickle of ichor down her cheek, which she wipes away and flicks thoughtlessly. Where it lands, it sizzles, evaporating into nothing. And then a deep breath, before she focuses on both Inga and Ainsley. Lips in a thin line. "How long do I have? .. " She begins. And then her voice lowers.
"And which of you is going to kill me before I'm done? If I did partake; I am lost. I'm not going back to that. Not like-. I'm not going."
That sad little smile crosses her lips once more, tresses of her hair hiding her eyes. "Like I told.. Staren? Staren. I've tried everything. I've hunted the ruins, looking for a way to bring someone back. But the Titans hid their secrets well. So I went hunting for -a different- secret.." She frowns. "What of the temple? Did I ever find what I sought? .. Did I get it back to Lars?"
And finally a slow, trembling breath. "Other worlds. How far has the taint spread?"
Ainsley Ainsley stares at Ophelia in silence for several awkward seconds. That question does not make the reptile happy. 'How long do I have?' She heavily considers what that would mean... and so she doesn't spare this woman the details.

"Something happened to you that drove you to the Tears," she begins, "The story begins with a man named Eddie. You hated him, you shouted it to the very mountaintops, but you didn't do much to explain why that was. What he had done to deserve it is unclear, but in order for you to be healed, you will need to forgive him. And in order for that to happen, we need him to talk to you... or you need to find it in yourself, on your own."

She finds a chair to bring up to the table, not sure where she should sit, so this is the best solution. "This 'you,'" she adds, pointing at Ophelia, "This is only a part of your true self. To get what you are looking for, we'll need to return to the source. To the Tears themselves. We'll need to find the real you... but then you will remember everything. You'll probably hate us for what we did to you. But I ask that you give this thought. We want you to be free of pain, but we can't do it without your help. We can't help you move on until you want to."

"The secret to fixing this lies at the bottom of the Sea, I'm sure of it." She gives Ophelia a determined stare.
Inga Freyjasdottir Inga shakes her head. These are difficult things to hear for her. She reaches over to place a hand on her arm, tentatively. This is the woman that's been trying to kill her for months...but she's not. This is the person she was before all that, and she doesn't remember. Will knowing trigger it all again? Inga isn't sure she wants to risk that now....

But Ainsley says the name. Uh oh.

"Ophelia, I am prepared to do as I must. I will not lie to you. We want to help you, but we cannot let you back to hurting others. However, I am stubborn by nature and I will work to find a way to make your recovery permanent--and then, perhaps, we will find the key to saving your world," Inga replies. Tall orders...but hey, what's one more world to save right?

Inga looks startled, then vaguely annoyed. "I'm sorry, I must go. I'll speak to you again soon. Damn goats," she grumbles, then pulls out a golden ball that fits in her hand..... and disappears in golden light.
Drowned Ophelia There is a pause. A long, horrible pause when Ainsley says the name. The dreaded name. All other voices fade to the background, and Ophelia stares at the lizard-ess. One can see the trickle of tears rolling down her cheek, now, evaporating before they strike the ground. Her breath released in a long, slow stream of cold fog; Creeping along her own chin, leaving frost as it touches her black shirt.
".. Eddie..."
She murmurs. Hands curl to fists, teeth click and grind. The stain slowly beginning to spread down from her eyes, like running mascara-
Before she grimaces, and clutches at her chest. Panting hard, pressed back against the bar top. Dizzy and confused, finally seeming to notice the splatter of ichor as it drips across her bare arm. She sniffs, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Another shuddering breath, the cold fog dissipating from her lips.

A long, slow breath, before she pushes herself upright. Head down once more, black ichor dripping from her chin. But the running mascara look retreats once more as she keeps her eyes closed.
"That.. name. I almost know it. I.." Another deep breath. "Mm. No. No, you.." Eyes open at last. Bright white, fading to a normal gaze. "You two shouldn't be anywhere near me. Anywhere. I'll do this. If you say there's something at the bottom of the Sea - then that's where I'll look first." She frowns, darkly.
Ainsley "Look at my face." Ainsley points up to the gauze patch. "Do I look like I give a damn if I get hurt trying to save you? I'm really sick of watching people get consumed by tragedy, so you better have a really convincing argument to keep me out of this besides 'I need to do this on my own.'" She furrows her brow and stares hard at Ophelia. That determined look is sharper. This lizard woman has seen a lot, it's clear in her face, in the gentle strength of her emotions.

"I'm listening."

Frooown.
Drowned Ophelia Ophelia's tight frown remains; But she breaks contact first. Eyes seeking out her sneakers, now, hands on her lap as she speaks. In tangent! ".. My parents were part of the first rebellion." She begins. "They marched with Riggnarok. He was pushing them back, victory after victory. When the Sea of Black Tears was opened, they drank deep. It was their chance to break the back of the Coil. They took the power of the Black Tears, and the demons where shattered. Pushed back to the edge of the brutal lands. It was the Black Tear Rebellion, and it was unstoppable. And then.."
She returns Ainsley's gaze, now. Flat and empty. ".. and then they turned on one another. Human- Tear Drinker against human. If they died, they did not rest, but rose once again beneath that hateful black water. The rebellion was crushed, and the demons swept forward again to seal the waters before it could drown everything. Those who did not serve in the -pleasure palaces- or slaved in the mines? Died. Or lived as we did, hunted and dying. All I knew of my parents was their betrayal."

"You've found a way to weaken the Black Tears. Somehow, you claim you got -me- back, even if .. only for a little while. But if you follow me - if you get caught, and turned? .. There is nothing left. Whatever you've found, whatever you think you know, it will be twisted."
Ainsley Ainsley's serious attitude remains. She listens carefully, and comes to understand what this means. When she hears about what the Sea actually is, she lids her eyes and her frown neutralizes. She considers the consequences of abusing the power the Tears could grant to an individual. And then she speaks.

"I have nothing to fear from the Black Tears."

Such a confident response. She elaborates, "They were winning because they had a strong foe to direct their wrath toward. They were winning because the Tears fed on their desperation, their anger. But the in-fighting was inevitable. They weren't prepared for what it actually was, and forgot themselves along the way. They weren't prepared to fight it within themselves, to conquer it, to understand that this sorrow and fury can be turned into a weapon of a different shape. That is how I did this to you. Hope. Connection. The desire to fight tragedy, to create good in this world, because I do feel sorrow, and anger, for what I see nearly every day. I want to understand what happened, and how to bring you back from it, because I believe it can be done, because it would mean that the pain could be reversed."
Drowned Ophelia The Forgotten Ophelia sits there a moment in awkward silence; Generally she was never this -talkative-, but when did she ever get the chance? The moment she opened her mouth at camp, that stupid bitch Lita was getting on her case about her tainted heritage. She listens to Ainsley go on about how much she understands; How little she has to fear. And, at last, Ophelia's chin dips.

"Atop the Sea of Black Tears lies the skull of a Titan; The first victims of its siren call." She murmurs, before she looks back up again. A single ichor tear working its way down the side of her nose. ".. If you think you're ready, then we'll head for the brutal lands tonight. Can you meet me outside this city?"

It's a lie, of course. No one was ready for the Sea of Black Tears. And Ophelia? Ophelia had every intention of ditching her 'friends'. To keep them safe - from themselves, if she had too.
Ainsley Ainsley frowns again. She stares at the woman for a good long silence, to make her feelings fairly clear in the following moment. She tells Ophelia, "I will be going there with or without you, so running off on your own is pointless." She doesn't directly call out the lie, of course. She waves it off and rises to her feet. "I won't stop you. But you aren't going to find answers until you let others in." And then she waves at Ophelia once and walked off, evidently having better things to do than to argue this point.
Drowned Ophelia Ophelia doesn't speak when the magical lizard begins moving away. Her dark frown says it all, before she goes back to watching her own hands. And then they curl into fists once more as she tumps the table.
Ainsley had the -answer-. Couldn't she see how dangerous it was to go anywhere near the Sea until her cure was finished? Silent and brooding, Ophelia -plots- to save her... well. To save Ainsley.