victory_road | Event: The Reveal Glass

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Event: The Reveal Glass

Across the Pokémon world, characters may have spotted a falling star last night. Or at least, one would think that's what it was: a naturally occurring phenomenon, rather than a legendary artifact. Specifically, the Reveal Glass fell to earth during a fight among a group of legendaries started by the return of a long-lost family member. But it's probably best to leave them to handle all that themselves, while your characters deal with other consequences.

The Reveal Glass shattered upon impact, and the shards scattered throughout Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islands… And made their way into the hearts of your characters. But bleeding isn't the concern here. Instead, the impact will hit when a character first looks into any reflective service. An eerie feeling hits them as they're transported to the Mirror Dimension.

While this realm can be many different things for different characters, one thing is always true: It is a place of honesty, where true selves are revealed. Those struck by a shard will find themselves facing truths they are no longer able to hide, and now must accept. Fortunately enough, even those who haven't been struck will be able to enter the Mirror Dimension during this event via a reflective surface to offer help. By the end of the 29th, things will return to normal. Characters will be back in the usual Pokémon world and their hearts will be rid of the shards, but time is strange in the Mirror Dimension, and the experience may feel like it goes on far longer than a day. Or, maybe that's just the emotional exhaustion.

The Reveal Glass plot is here. You can swing by the event info post for additional details and FAQ, and play out your characters’ enforced therapy on this post. As with most VR events, this plot is entirely optional and your characters don't need to take part at all.

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[It's not all that weird for Louie when he goes from trudging into the bathroom to brush his teeth first thing in the afternoon, freshly (and only halfway) awake, to this place that seems constantly shifting. Sure, it's not an ordinary occurrence these days, but when you're part of the Duck family? These things just happen.

He's also a duck again, so that's a thing. More something to note for possible context than anything else, as the difference doesn't feel so big by now. The big thing is walking-- duck feet and human feet are so different, after all, and he generally only has duck feet again twice a year. To a degree, it's like riding a bike, but Louie definitely has to focus less on where he's going and more on getting their without stumbling.

That's how Louie ends up finding Adaine. Not a matter of courage, in this case, but rather a rare case of him not being attentive. And when she addresses him, and he first fully clocks the destruction of where he's ended up, that's when the situation goes from a strange inconvenience to actually scary. Angry magic is the scariest magic, in his experience. Louie takes a very careful step back - he really doesn't want to trip and fall now - with his hands held up in front of him.]

No, that's-- I didn't notice, that's my bad. Don't let me interrupt. [Although... He feels it'd be dumb not to get some read on things here.] Although, uh, busy with what, exactly? It just seems like you already made good work of things here.

[ Finally, Adaine turns to face the newcomer. An aarakocra? Something close enough to one, anyway. She's vaguely aware, in the part of her mind which still has one foot in Saffron City, that the way people look there isn't the way they're supposed to look. This duck's voice strikes her as familiar, but not familiar enough to make a connection that overrides the unknown appearance. ]

Busy with revenge.

[ She takes a deep breath, and straightens her spine a bit. Casting a Locate Creature spell, a silvery blue glow overlays her eyes for a moment as she scans the barren horizon. ]

I've been looking for my mother.

Edited (html whoopsie) 2024-03-01 20:57 (UTC)

Ohhh.

[Well, that's intense. This isn't something he can relate to, but it's not exactly the first time he's come across this concept, either. The blue-ish glow of Adaine's magic makes the mental comparison he can't help but draw to Lena all the stronger in his mind. So, after his moment of being stunned - okay, a couple moments' worth of being stunned at least - Louie simply nods.]

I've seen a bad mom situation or two. [May and June may even be more of a case of it, he figures. And sure, he doesn't know with any certainty that the person in front of him wasn't the "bad" here, but that's just the thing, she is the front of him right now. With clearly powerful magic!] It's messed up.

[ With a frown, the light fades from Adaine's eyes. Her mother isn't within 1000 feet. The spell didn't fail, but it didn't give her the information she wanted, and therefore she is displeased. ]

It is messed up. She messed us up. But I will make things right, once I find her and kill her, like I did my father.

[Yeah, that's really intense. But the intention of a second murder isn't the only thing that stands out to Louie. He tilts his head with a frown.]

Us? Do you need to find her to save someone?

[ Adaine's expression falters for a moment, shifting from determined rage to something a bit softer, more regretful. She thinks for a moment, giving the question proper time to mull over, before finally she shakes her head. ]

Not quite. My sister is already safe. My mum's magic has been taken from her, so she isn't a threat to us anymore.

[ That said... ]

I just— [ Adaine hesitates, because as much as she longs to give into her rage, she still has some fear inside her at the prospect.

Not enough fear to stop her. Just enough to make her falter for a moment. ]

I just want to make her pay for what she did.

[Louie picks up on the little moments of faltering here and there, and that's what he focuses on. After all, while he can't say it's a matter that impacts him either way, the idea of murdering anyone is just... It's a big thing, to him. That she's seeming to hesitate doesn't exactly surprise him.]

Do you want to do it like that, though? [There's hesitation of his own, in his tone. He still feels very intimidated.] It's just-- What I've seen is that once the whole be wrong-seek revenge cycle starts up, it doesn't really stop.

I have to! [ Adaine whirls around and snaps back at him. ] I have no choice!

[ She's seething, the rage inside of her building until she is radiating raw arcane power again, hair blowing in an invisible wind and an ominous light shining from behind her eyes. ]

You would do the same, if you had seen what they did to my sister. What they tried to do to me!

Edited 2024-03-09 21:21 (UTC)

[As much as Louie thinks this it's a questionable idea, that her plan seems unlikely to help with the hurt... It's hard for him to stick to his guns there when faced with that frightening display of magic. Louie stumbles backwards, tripping in his fearful haste.]

Okay! Okay, then don't take it on me, jeez! I'm just saying it won't change-- You know what, no, you just... You do your scary thing.

[ Adaine's mission being described as "your scary thing" does reach her, in a distant part of her mind that she's actively not paying attention to at the moment. She's aware that she must be terrifying right now. But, hasn't she earned that? Doesn't she deserve the right to terrify people?

...It just isn't fair that the people who most deserve to be terrified by her aren't actually here to see it. Instead, she's taking out her wrath on the environment instead, and only terrifying the innocent bystander who's stumbled into this place unawares. ]

I would, if she was anywhere near here, but she's not!

[ Adaine lets out a cry of anguish, and lashes out in a random direction— thankfully away from Louie— with a Witch Bolt, sending an arc of crackling blue lightning energy out at the husk of a tree which dared to not have fallen over yet. ]

[Here in the pokemon world, Louie rarely has cause to be scared like this. He'd be lying if he said he missed the feeling that now has him sitting on the ground and shaking, frankly too frightened to run off.]

Well if she's not here, maybe you can stop freaking me out!

[ Adaine's hands are still balled into fists, and still surrounded by crackling blue energy. For a second, she looks as though she's about to whirl around and throw a punch in the duck's direction, but she holds herself back, almost vibrating with the effort. ]

[ In fact, she's just standing there, shaking, for entirely too long of a moment. If Louie looks closer, he'll notice that her teeth are gritted in a grimace, and although her eyes are hidden behind both glasses and bangs, there is the shine of unfallen tears on her cheeks. ]

[ Finally, Adaine does something with her hands, which is to bring them up to cover her face, as she collapses onto her knees in the ash and dirt of the destroyed forest and sobs. ]

[The shift is almost jarring when she starts to cry. And there is the brief thought passing through Louie's mind that maybe it would have been-- Not better, certainly, but easier, if she'd stayed angry and dangerous.

He doesn't trust his legs to be the strongest after all that, so instead he walks over to her on his knees, almost a crawl. He lifts a hand, but at first, it only hovers near her shoulder. It's not like he knows how he can comfort her. He doesn't even know her name, come to think of it.]

It's more than messed up, it's- It's really just wrong.

[That much, he knows with certainty.]

We're kids. There's a lot we shouldn't have to deal with, but I don't think much is worse than someone who's supposed to take care of you hurting you instead. And... I wish I could tell you what would help it not hurt. I'm not sure there's anything, though.

[ There's a small inward flinch as his hand nears her shoulder, but she makes no move to stop him. Casual touch is still strange and new for her, especially when coming from a position of offering comfort.

But she knows she can't keep going like this. She's exhausted, as though she's blown through all her spells and has gone several days without trancing. She lifts a hand to push her glasses up onto her forehead so that she can wipe the tears from her eyes with the heel of her hand. ]

I don't... I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be so angry all the time. But I don't know what else to do with the feelings they've left me with.

[With Adaine making no protest against touch, Louie gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze.]

Look, I don't know where you'd start. I've had to figure out my own stuff, but none of it is like this. What I do know is that I have a friend who would get this way better. She had a really awful family; this aunt who only cared about what my friend could do for her. That was all that mattered.

[Louie hesitates briefly, because while Lena's not in this world, he doesn't think it's likely that if she was - and that happening is always possible - she'd want to share this story with just anyone.

But then, someone who'd get it like it seems this girl would? Maybe that wouldn't be just anyone.]

My friend also uses magic, it even seems kind of like yours, I think. Anyway, she knew magic because of her aunt, but she ended up way stronger than her. And when she realized that, she decided that her aunt didn't get to be her family. Not to her, 'cause family shouldn't be that way. Besides, she didn't want her family to determine who she was, she wanted it to be more like... the other way around?

[An awkward shrug. As much as Louie's been growing in his time here, this is still a lot of emotional conversation, even if the discussed emotions aren't his own.]

The point is, maybe being here-- Not here, but like, away from your home, is a good place to start working through all those feelings. For now, at least.

I watched my friend have a really hard time letting go. And when she had the chance to stay with my family when she started trying to, she didn't take it, because we'd all been there for all the bad stuff. Even though she's still close with us, I don't think she would have done as great as she is without a fresh start, and her own family. People that are hers, you know what I mean?

[ The squeeze at her shoulder is comforting to Adaine. It grounds her, reminding her of the comfortable touches that her more touchy-feely friends share easily, or that Jawbone gifts her without asking for anything in return.

She misses her friends. She misses her family. Her new, better family, that loves her without expectation, instead of the other way around.

She misses Aelwyn. ]

That's what my sister's done. I got out of it all before she did, but once she realized that what my parents did to us was wrong, I... We invited her to come live with us— me and my friends, I mean. She stayed in my room with me. We slept in bunk beds. [ She laughs, though her eyes are still wet and shiny with tears. ] It's a bit silly for full teenagers to be excited about sharing bunk beds, but... We were. For a time.

[ She takes a deep breath and her posture loosens a bit, subconsciously. Her shoulders drop, letting go of the tension she hadn't realized she'd been holding there. ]

But Aelwyn needed to find her own way, just like I had done. She wasn't ready to accept the love that my new family gives me. She felt smothered by it. So, she moved out.

Being part of a close, good family can get, uh, really vulnerable. I... Uh, yeah. I can understand someone who isn't used to it having a hard time.

[The admission is made awkwardly, even with some shame. It can be hard for Louie himself, in some ways, and he's always been part of a family that's very loving and tightknit, small as it started. But even as that family grew and grew, he still struggled with that emotional vulnerability.]

But, see? You got out, and found your Sabrewings. A real family. Sounds like you've already come really far.

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Event: The Reveal Glass

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cw patricide/matricide

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