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lesmodsalouette) wrote2025-03-16 03:54 am
lesmodsalouette) wrote2025-03-16 03:54 am
Graveyard
Graveyard
The garden is still sprawling and green – despite having entirely lost all its riotous flowers and colors, along with any sign of wildlife or birdsong – though one thing stands out more than anything else: from Monday to Thursday, you can’t see the castle anymore. All that remains where it once stood (or perhaps, usually stands) is an incongruously large tree that towers over everything else and somehow looks larger and more imposing than the castle ever did. The tree’s branches are bare, without any hint of life nor leaf – however, on the weekends (that is to say, Friday through Sunday) a faint projection of the castle appears around it, cradling the only things that the denizens of this alternate garden can see in detail from the other side: the flurry of activity around the investigation, the circus-like dimension that holds the trial, and the mirrors and the grassy dimension that display the execution.
For those curious what the land of the living are up to, a mirage-like and upside-down reflection of the castle garden in its original arrangement can be spotted occasionally overlaying the sky. This strange illusion may sometimes show those in the garden on the other side, flitting in and out of view like stray clouds; but much like the weather, their appearance is mercurial – they cannot be reached and cannot be heard.
Water, Flower, Everywhere
The fountains remain active somehow, though their features seem to have eroded, obscuring the identities of the deities and the wings of the birds, cracking pottery down into nothing but worn shards and handles. At night, only maybe half the lights work (and here they are real candlelight, rather than magical), plunging most of the garden into crepuscular darkness. The trellis walkway looks quite overgrown (mysteriously, bamboo is taking over), entirely covering some statues and other features along its length, and it’s no longer walkable – a miniature canal runs the whole length underneath the arches, feeding into other new waterways around the garden that cut off footpaths seemingly at random. There are small footbridges here and there, but the lack of logic to the whole arrangement makes falling into one of the streams or canals a real hazard.
The waterways do all manage to converge at the pond by the pavilion – neither of which are all that soothing or classical anymore. The pond is only half-full, and entirely lacks water lilies or any dragonflies; its banks sit jagged above the dark waters, and perhaps that’s why the pavilion, too, is half collapsed down into it all. Gone are the curtains and ivies; only dead curling vines and half-collapsed columns are left, but there’s still someplace to sit if you put your mind to it.
Most of the flowerbeds sit fallow or overtaken by weeds – there’s signs here and there that someone might have tried to clear them out, but the bulk of the effort seems to have gone to the orchard by the gardener’s cottage. It might be more accurate to say cottages, given that there are a few of them dotted around that area for some reason. None of them are locked, but all of them have only minimal furnishings apart from the original; they’re also all provided with the full complement of gardener’s tools. Next to them, there are new saplings and half-grown flowering trees: some pear and apple, but also some not. There are new shoots in the kitchen orchard that have just barely taken root, the dirt recently turned.
The waterways do all manage to converge at the pond by the pavilion – neither of which are all that soothing or classical anymore. The pond is only half-full, and entirely lacks water lilies or any dragonflies; its banks sit jagged above the dark waters, and perhaps that’s why the pavilion, too, is half collapsed down into it all. Gone are the curtains and ivies; only dead curling vines and half-collapsed columns are left, but there’s still someplace to sit if you put your mind to it.
Most of the flowerbeds sit fallow or overtaken by weeds – there’s signs here and there that someone might have tried to clear them out, but the bulk of the effort seems to have gone to the orchard by the gardener’s cottage. It might be more accurate to say cottages, given that there are a few of them dotted around that area for some reason. None of them are locked, but all of them have only minimal furnishings apart from the original; they’re also all provided with the full complement of gardener’s tools. Next to them, there are new saplings and half-grown flowering trees: some pear and apple, but also some not. There are new shoots in the kitchen orchard that have just barely taken root, the dirt recently turned.
Hedge Maze(?)
The other most eye-catching feature is what once was an ornamental hedge maze: instead of being a tame height here, it has seemingly grown wild and completely unchecked, towering above the rest of the garden almost like its own overgrown mountain. The hedge walls go up and up and up, making it entirely impossible to see the center or even how far it goes despite the fact that sections of the hedges have also died, reduced to the branches underneath, bristling with interlocked thorns.
Part of it had even spilled over into the garden itself, huge gnarled branches spreading out like burnt-blackened fingers all the way to the edge of the pond – wherever the branches touch, even the greenery is withered, and any statues look more ruined than those in the rest of the area. As of the end of Week 3, however, the branches have retracted entirely and the way into the hedge maze has opened even more. However, there is now a storm brewing over what might be the center or the general area of it. Getting close to the hedge maze or any of the hedge(?) branches is... unpleasant, though it doesn’t usually go beyond a buzz of wrongness and a slight headache.
Part of it had even spilled over into the garden itself, huge gnarled branches spreading out like burnt-blackened fingers all the way to the edge of the pond – wherever the branches touch, even the greenery is withered, and any statues look more ruined than those in the rest of the area. As of the end of Week 3, however, the branches have retracted entirely and the way into the hedge maze has opened even more. However, there is now a storm brewing over what might be the center or the general area of it. Getting close to the hedge maze or any of the hedge(?) branches is... unpleasant, though it doesn’t usually go beyond a buzz of wrongness and a slight headache.
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(Right. That came up during the meeting, but
frankly speaking a lot also did so you are
doing your best, aren'tcha buddy.) ]
And you trust that they'll do it, [ both of them, ] to the letter.
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I do.
It's risky and might not even work, but that can't be the reason why to not try.
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[ They'd noticed that, at the meeting. But it's amused enough, and Siffrin nods. ]
As long as there's something to try, there's a lead to follow -- and the same reversed. But you're right we can't put our eggs in one basket. Wishes... are pretty tricky, I think.
[ Always a catch, or... not exactly what someone's expecting. The metaphorical "mode of transport" from means to an end. ]
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[ he's working off the assumption that "raha" is some sort of nickname for "g'raha" as there is no one else that would fit the mold. sabo smiles all the same anyway. ]
They are, but if he was given his magic with the intent to make people happy—if he can grant this one wish then he'll be able to make plenty of people happy.
[ including ish, himself, and if one of those people also include sabo then he's not specifically calling that out. he'll take this opportunity to adjust how he's sitting on the ground to be more "proper" and really process his new surroundings. ]
I suppose we should start with the maze? Or what do you think?
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(... Maybe, something you said, too...) ]
We can. I'll lead you through. There's some points of interest, but one of them doesn't work anymore.
[ Odd way of saying it, probably, but-- they can explain when they get there. Up! Siffrin goes!
...
Sorry, Sabo. Get up yourself. The wine is coming with them, bottle tucked into Siffrin's arm as they sip gently at their drink. ]
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Doesn't work anymore?
[ he had heard about changes... they were all looking for them. could these be it? ]
In a good way or in a bad way?
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[ Sabo will understand when they get there.
The hedge maze is tall and unwelcoming too close to its unkempt walls, but Siffrin doesn't seem to mind; there's a distinct, distant feeling of oppression that would put off anyone with self-preservation instincts, and though they do become more quiet, keeping their single eye peeled just like the first time
they reach a fountain basin, burbling gently. ]
Last week... when I explored, it showed me something. Um. An interview, like...
[ ... Like...
...
No one had said anything about it, but... It'd happened, hadn't it? ]
Um. The coupon... wasn't in it, but... it was similar, to that.
[ Not exactly. Siffrin's memory also isn't ~stellar~ but. That's fine. ]
And then... another, after, with Yaman and others -- the others like him, I think -- singing a song. And then time stopped.
[ ... ]
You can ask... Tia, or Chu. They found it first.
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fortunately, he also gets his mind taken off of that when they bring up something that gets his full attention almost immediately. ( naru voice ) why do these interviews follow me wherever i go. how badly did i get cursed with this knowledge... EITHER WAY— ]
Another interview?
[ hmmm...he'll look at the fountain and try to see if there's anything to gleam from it. you know, other than being a fountain found in a land where everyone is dead. ]
If this functioned like the tarot card I received then it could the memories of the times that came before ours. [ he frowns. ] Ish did say that this wasn't his first time and that there had been others.
[ did all of them end up here...? seems a bit empty for so many supposed bodies that he went through. ]
Thanks Siffrin; I'll ask them more about this.
no subject
Who can say. Thorns block their eventual path, where several new basins lay instead. One is murkier than the others. It may or may not have been licked; there is no evidence to either end.
Regardless, four profiles not unlike their plaques in the promenade remain just beneath the surface of the ice of, well, four basins, partially obscured by leaves. Siffrin will let Sabo read over them before-- ]
They're the spirits trapped here. We can't see them all the time, or touch them, but they're friendly. Um, as far as I've met.
[ ... A glance at the final basin. ]
That one works.
[ Whatever that means. ]
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but if you're dead does it matter..?) he'll take the time that siffrin allows and reads each one with an eyebrow raising at the the last two...last...one. ]
I'm not sure about one of them... [ lobelia. ] But it'd be wrong of me to judge them before speaking to them.
[ no, perhaps he should judge before meeting them. but!! the final basin. ]
Do you think it'll follow the trends of the others and reveal another memory of sorts?
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Siffrin's smiling like he already knows the answer to that, so he simply gestures. Go on. ]
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closes my eyes. me, naru, i am closing my eyes because sabo WHO JUST WOKE UP FROM BEING BEHEADED—IS NOW SHOVING HIS FACE DOWN SOME MURKY ASS BASIN THAT WILL ???
????
??
SABO SHOULD STAY DEAD. sabish doesn't need to happen. ]
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(You think you were smarter--)
It's the clear one he should shove his face against, the ice cold and unforgiving of such an act, but he'll see the same vision the rest of them had earlier -- bloodshed and violence, the swordsman he'll come to know as Yamanbagiri present, the odd end -- while Siffrin just waits because
these memory visions are very hard to explain it is better experience thanks for having your head on straight Sabo. ]
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given his experience with getting hit by memories all of the sudden without his full consent he grins and bears it. honestly, without the full context of what could be considered familiar to yamanbagiri, there is only so much that sabo can cling to but there is just one thing— ]
...cut off from the time flow?
[ why does this remind him of something? ]
I have no reason to think this but I doubt that what lies in that memory is related to any action that Ish did directly.
[ indirectly? probably. ...and would he take the blame for it? ]
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[ And by the stars did Siffrin absorb. A quarter of them. ]
Um. How is Raha, by the way. Since you spoke to him recently.
[ (Casual and cool, Siffrin.) ]
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[ please don't remind him. that was more words than he would like to ever say again in his whole life, thanks. ]
Raha? [ there's that nickname again... should sabo ask about it? no. he will not. ] I suppose he's as well as anyone could be after losing important to him.
He's very motivated to figure things out and bring everyone back, as impossible as that might seem to be.
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No. Don't blush. Why is your face warming.)
Not that Siffrin has control over their expression at all. Futile. Truly.
(Important friend. Important friend! Just think of it like that, Siffrin.) ]
He's the type that likes to challenge the impossible. Him and Urianger both. [ (Yes, good. Deflect.) ] So I'm sure them and the others will be able to work things out, especially with all you've left behind.
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Yes, I noticed. We are the same in that regard; I know I'm indebted to him. He helped answer all of the questions I had when trying to understand how magic could work.
[ he smiles. because boy did sabo have plenty of questions to ask. man does not know how magic works; one piece has many things but magic like what they're dealing with here is beyond him. ]
And that makes the two of us. G'raha could afford to speak his mind a bit more forcefully— [ see publicly ] but I don't have any doubts that he won't be able to come through when it matters.
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... Not that they know if it helped, any. But it seemed to ease people's worries between the three of them. ]
He doesn't like to draw attention to himself, [ amused, ] but I agree.
[ Siffrin stares at the basins for a moment, then at the way blocked by thorns. ]
... It opened shortly before Hickey's fight with Yoonhee. [ congrats on learning the match-up like this ] So I think The Witch was right that he needs the carnivals to happen. For more than just his sake.
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[ because what else is he supposed to say about this? his opinion of the two of them are indifferent with his most notable memory of yoonhee is them broadcasting their relationship woes.
hm. sabo's going to ponder the blocked thorns. they hold secrets and time will certainly tell what he'll need to know about them. ]
Interesting. I suppose this is what it meant by "an order of things".