theafflicted | 04 - week four

04 - week four

WEEK FOUR

Saturday comes to a close, and it’s time for some rest and recovery. Perhaps the TLC you deserve will come this week, or perhaps the nightmare will continue. It’s hard to say with things being so strange around you, from Wei Wuxian’s disappearance to the sudden addition of objects and places and creatures from your homes. Who knows what this week will bring? Nothing ordinary, that’s for sure.

You wake up on Sunday to an increase in those little glimpses you saw yesterday. What were snippets of songs, locations that might’ve seemed familiar, and creatures that were dormant, are now all alive and whole. When you go to the karaoke bar, the songs you once knew are there. Monsters and animals are alive and sentient. New business are abound. Vehicles are operable, and perhaps some of your old belongings are back, too.

However, some of these things aren’t even things that should exist outside of your dreams. They may be far too strange and unusual to be real, or just things you don't remember ever seeing. The only thing you remember about these things in particular is that they were, quite literally, in your dreams this week.

That being said, every few hours, all of these things from your homes and dreams fade out and get replaced by new sounds, places, beasts….only to maybe come back again at another time.

Well. At least there's one constant here: You’ve got a handful of new locations to look at, with the fog having spread once more, and they aren't going anywhere. There aren’t as many new places that are native to Estelline this time around, but that may be for the best, considering everything going on.

SETTING TRACKER

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

NEWSPAPER SUBMISSIONS + EDITION #1

SAGE / FLORENCE / LORELEI

MEM SHARE DETAILS

OOC NOTE

OOC: Details on this week can be found here!

Also, we have a lot of participants for the news activity from last week. Neat! Everyone who participated in some capacity will have a small polaroid camera delivered to their doorstep. There's limited film, though - 10 photos per camera. It doesn't seem like there's any extra film at this time, either.

Finally, there will not be any weekly tasks this week. You guys are going to be busy with memshare and dreamscape stuff; instead, enjoy the Estelline University Newspaper!

FULL NAV

(CODE)

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[ "Really? Does it really seem like that? I think that would make me happy..."

Ren can't help but to smile a little with the giddy feeling.

"Hien looked after me for a long time... I think it's been 8 years. I feel really thankful and grateful to him, even if I... wanted to die back then." ]

[ Eight years... and how many times has Hien repeated this? How many years has Hien spent on Ren? ]

And now? Do you want to die now?

[ The question feels bittersweet, even though Fai smiles as he asks, because he knows that this tenuous peace is going to be disrupted somehow.

...

Maybe he can try to stop it. ]

[ Ren shakes his head.

"No. I wanna live with Hien. He's like... the only family I have now with Goldie. He's been so nice to me from the start, and he's been protecting me from the people who want to hurt me."

...

"I want to pay him back someday. I told him that, but he just told me to grow up well." ]

To tell you the truth, growing up well will be paying him back. That's all parents like him want for their kids, after all.

[ He's sure that doesn't help much, though... ]

I think, for now, just tell him how much you appreciate all that he's done for you.

[ Ren looks rather determined in his small stature that doesn't seem to diminish that sort of feeling at all.

"I love him a lot like family. He taught me so many things. I felt... appreciated and valued. I want him to make it feel like all his work paid off." ]

[ He likes that determination. It makes Fai smile. ]

Just keep studying hard and he will feel that way.

[ Fai is really good at cheering Ren up. Ren also seems to like being in Fai's company. The atmosphere is nice and Ren wants it to last forever.

But good things never last forever.

The entire setting glitches out and when it returns to normal, Fai will find himself standing outside on the street not too far from the tent. There's blood in the corner of the white tent in the back. It becomes clear whose blood it is by following the trail to a body whose life had long since ended, evident by how hollow the chest is where the heart should be. The corpse is cold and alone.

Hien screams. He squirms on the ground, writhing—there's a pole staked in the center of his torso, but that's not why he's screaming. Tears stream down his face as his hand reaches for Ren, who has already left the living realm. Hien screams his name, but that too, eventually breaks down into nothing but loud sobs.

A man with blond hair with a right red eye and left blue eye stomps onto Hien's head. He looks just like Ren, only if he was as old as Hien. Hien isn't normally like this. He'd normally fight back, but Fai can probably tell: Renatus is the concept of Sharing. Division also falls within the category, so to divide Hien's strength in half continuously until there was barely any left... that seems to be what happened here. ]

...

[ He couldn't do anything. He wanted to, but he couldn't.

Memories are cruel in that way, aren't they? Fai runs to Ren's body, kneeling down to him and closing his eyes for him. This is the best he can do. He wants to try to help Hien, but he knows this is a losing battle. ]

I'm sorry, Hien.

[ His words are soft, and Hien probably can't hear them, but he feels the need to say it anyway.

Fai looks up at the person who looks like Ren. ]

Why are you doing this?

[ "Ruining Hien's fun is always a fun pasttime. You should try it out too." ]

Renatus...

[ Hien growls his name between his teeth. The sadness feels like it'll consume him, so he turns it all into anger instead. It's too bad it doesn't help with Renatus's foot on his head. ]

I’d rather not.

[ His face sets into a frown as he stares at Renatus. ]

Is that your reason for all this cruelty? Is that really it?

[ "Why should I tell you, some random nobody off the streets—"

Renatus disappears. He's been expelled by the world for breaking the Overseer rules by being in the same world as Hien. When Renatus is gone, the division no longer plagues Hien, but he still stays on the ground. The anger dissipates and turns back into sadness. ]

Ren...

Hien…

[ Fai slowly makes his way over. ]

I’m sorry. I wish I could have done something.

[ He can't blame Fai. He just met him yesterday and it feels like it would be a disservice to Ren, who probably liked him a lot. ]

I wanted... to get him a cake, for once. I wanted him to be happy... living with me.

[ Hien cries some more, though his teeth are clenched. ]

I wanted to see him grow up... and do the things he wanted to do...

He would have grown up well, I know it.

[ Fai reaches out to brush Hien’s hair out of his face. Maybe this is too much for someone he’s supposed to have just met, but… he’s going to do it anyway. ]

He told me that he thought of you as his father. I told him that I thought he should tell you as much, but he was worried you wouldn’t want to hear it.

[ Something inside Hien feels like it shatters. A pulse ripples throughout the world (excludes Fai) and it knocks people out. The Self is going absolutely ballistic as his face twists with agony. It's also the most emotional time that Fai has probably ever seen him along with the loudest. His already withered heart crumples even more. ]

I can... do it again. I can make it right this time.

…

[ Fai wonders if Hien really can, but he decides to take a different approach this time.

He’s not going to outright reject the idea. He can’t, not in the face of a devastated Hien. ]

What will you do differently?

I'll think about that when I get there.

[ He sounds so desperate and sad... ]

[ Well. This is getting them nowhere. It’s that same circular thinking, the lack of a plan and the sureness that he knows what’s best. Hien is stuck in his own head over this.

He needs to move on. Going back is a mistake. ]

Hien, I need you to listen to me.

[ Fai takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. ]

Ren was happy, he told me so. He told me that he got a second chance at life, that he got to have a family again. You gave him exactly what he needed in his life. There was nothing more he could ask for.

[ Hien's eyes widen. He doesn't feel a trace of a lie from Fai, especially from his body language. He was already crying, but he tried holding back them to no avail. Hien cries again, but this time, it's quiet. He's bleeding from the earlier staking, but it doesn't stop him from sitting up. ]

I'm sorry... Ren... I just...

[ He hangs his head. ]

I wanted more. I wanted more time with him... I'm sorry.

[ Fai reaches out to touch his shoulder. He’s worried about disturbing the wound Hien already has, but he knows Hien will be fine later. ]

Of course you did. He was your son, wasn’t he? There’s nothing wrong with wanting more time.

[ He pauses. ]

However… you need to remember that he was happy. Keep reminding yourself of that, and think of the good memories you had. Cherish them.

[ The hand to the shoulder is warm. Hien is regenerating nicely, but he wishes this passive was on Ren instead. Despite that, he knows Fai is right. Ren lived a shitty life after an accident. It wasn't fair for him, but Hien picked him up and gave him a second chance.

This all started as a mission, but he grew too attached. It's hard to look back on good memories for him, because it feels even more painful. Those will be the days he'll never get to experience again.

But giving peace to Ren was what he wanted to do for him. ]

... You're too kind for a stranger.

[ He smiles a little. ]

Am I really?

[ He wonders if Hien has found him out, if he’s realized that Fai knows him. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. He’d admit to it. ]

... Yeah.

[ This Hien has no idea who would want to help him, much less be so kind. If Fai was just a traveling wizard, there would be no reason to know who he is. The reasoning would become worse if he actually did know him somehow, so Hien can't think of anything. He can't think. ]

Thanks anyway...

[ Fai nods. ]

This was something I needed to do, but… I’ll accept your thanks.

[ He looks back towards Ren. ]

If you’d like, I can help you give him a proper burial. [ … ] But I understand if you need time to yourself right now.

... I would like that.

[ He quietly sighs and gets up. His wound regenerates nicely at least.

But then the memory fizzles out. Fai might get the idea that this memory was right before Hien was taken to Estelline from how it ends. ]

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04 - week four

cw suicidal ideation

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cw gore, blood

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