The Shimmer Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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theshimmer2020-08-08 11:35 pm
shimmermods) wrote in theshimmer2020-08-08 11:35 pm
WEEK FOUR
FOURTH WEEK
The Shimmer may have left you physically, but it's always with you; it's something it had insisted on yesterday, and it's something that continues to be pervasive even now, both in thoughts and within you in other, perhaps more noticeable ways. The statements that have been made weigh heavily; your surroundings continue to be influenced by something or other - plants you recognize are still present here, even as the trees themselves continue to crystallize, growing glassy white and transparent around mechanical insides - and the changes to your physical bodies are becoming more evident and difficult to ignore.
Perhaps more disturbingly, when you went to sleep in the clearing there were sixteen of you.
When you wake up, there are fifteen.
No matter how many headcounts you take, you keep coming up one short; the fact of the matter is that Rean Schwarzer is no longer among you. There's no visible evidence of where he's gone, and all of his belongings are still here; perhaps in some part of your mind, the possibility registers itself - maybe he's not with you because he went to the Shimmer. Not in the same way the cultists went, and not in the same way the ring of bodies seems to have gone, but maybe...
The thought is difficult to shake; the fact of the matter is that he isn't here, and you probably don't want to stay here. After all, your options are currently either to do what you set out to do, to return to the base and very possibly be killed for your efforts, or to remain here with the corpses.
The hike uphill is steep; perhaps it's fortunate that you're no longer tiring out like you used to. It's easier to keep going nowadays, even if it feels somewhat mechanical in doing so; your limbs know what they're doing, even if there's some reason for your mind to disagree. You seem to be making good time in moving toward the site of the initial impact of the meteorite; perhaps it won't be much longer before you find your objective.
That is, if all goes according to plan.
SUNDAY | MONDAY |
TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY
Perhaps more disturbingly, when you went to sleep in the clearing there were sixteen of you.
When you wake up, there are fifteen.
No matter how many headcounts you take, you keep coming up one short; the fact of the matter is that Rean Schwarzer is no longer among you. There's no visible evidence of where he's gone, and all of his belongings are still here; perhaps in some part of your mind, the possibility registers itself - maybe he's not with you because he went to the Shimmer. Not in the same way the cultists went, and not in the same way the ring of bodies seems to have gone, but maybe...
The thought is difficult to shake; the fact of the matter is that he isn't here, and you probably don't want to stay here. After all, your options are currently either to do what you set out to do, to return to the base and very possibly be killed for your efforts, or to remain here with the corpses.
The hike uphill is steep; perhaps it's fortunate that you're no longer tiring out like you used to. It's easier to keep going nowadays, even if it feels somewhat mechanical in doing so; your limbs know what they're doing, even if there's some reason for your mind to disagree. You seem to be making good time in moving toward the site of the initial impact of the meteorite; perhaps it won't be much longer before you find your objective.
That is, if all goes according to plan.
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[She's honestly just gonna at least get them disinfected for the time being, don't mind her--]
I really hope I don't. I'd managed to go so long without tripping all over myself too--the last thing we need is for anything worse to happen...
[Alright, almost done taking care of herself--]
It really is strange, though. I've never been in a cave like this before--are they always so...weird, like this?
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Not all caves are quite like this, at least not where I come from. This one is a bit similar to one I spent some time in, but that cave was quite different from the others. Obviously the Shimmer is very different from my world, though.
[There's a distinct lack of monsters here, which he still finds disappointing.]
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[Like that just seems bad? Let's not think about it.]
Would you be alright with telling me about it? If it's not too prying, of course.
[Alright, her scratches are...well, taken care of enough for now, she's gonna put stuff away. Let's walk and talk!!]
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I don't mind. The cave I'm thinking of is a passage through the mountains called the Weasand of Cados. It's home to an aer krene - essentially a place with a high density of aer.
[Don't worry, he's getting to the explanation of it, since that's apparently not a thing other jrpg worlds have!!]
Aer - not the same as the air we breathe, mind you! - is everywhere in my world; it powers our blastia and has a large impact on our world, and normally it isn't visible. Too much aer can cause things to grow out of control - there was a forest dealing with that not all that far from Dahngrest, if I'm not mistaken.
[...it was also kinda sorta close to his house, but like hell if he was gonna deal with that.]
Without the aer krene, it likely would have been a normal cave. But because it was so thick and nearly out of control, it gave the place a very surreal feeling. The monsters there were also quite unique - I imagine that's why they turned out differently than their counterparts elsewhere.
[sometimes you just gotta have weird monster designs, you know how it is.]
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That makes sense! Aer sounds a lot like...magical energy, in a way--like the sort of thing mages use when casting spells and the like from spellbooks. But I can understand where it'd be something rather essential for all of you, yes.
[blastia must just be like weird spellbooks, right??? or something. either way, felicia's not inclined to question it]
That Aer Krene, though...that sounds like it's done some rather awful things to the monsters there. But I can see where it'd be exactly like dealing with this--too much of that aer in one place sounds like it's gone and made itself a mini-Shimmer, in a sense...
[Of course--]
Is there any way to fix something like that?
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[Which is cursed!! Deeply cursed!!!]
There is, yes. Aer krene do occasionally go out of control, but it's never caused a problem for the world because of creatures known as Entelexeia. They're essentially talking monsters with the ability to absorb and control aer.
[That's a very basic explanation, but that's all he feels like giving.]
The Shimmer is entirely different, and I certainly haven't seen any monsters here, let alone any talking ones.
[So sadly, we cannot solve our problems with Ba'ul.]
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Oh, they sound wonderful! And I can certainly see where they would be useful to the world at large--they must be very lovely creatures.
[wouldn't it be nice tho. ...tho now that you say it i'm genuinely worried we're gonna find another person circle at some point and poor fuckin' judith's gonna be there, having tried to do just that--]
That is a shame, though. Maybe if the Shimmer had something like that here, maybe it'd help to control all of the energy that it's exuding, and stop just what it's doing to other people.
[...Though, Felicia's look goes a little narrow at that shortly after saying it.]
If it would even allow such a thing.
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It's possible that such a thing could be created, but even with this world's technology it seems they haven't come across a solution like that.
Oh well, I doubt we're going to be able to come up with something like that.
[We've got some really smart researchers, but most of them aren't familiar with the tech this world has...]
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Yeah, I doubt it too. It isn't like this world has any sort of magic here either, or that might have made things a little easier going...
[Felicia you're just saying that because you miss your ice powers. Dummy.]
...Yeager, can I ask you something that might be a little silly?
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[...that's just asking for someone to prove you wrong and ask a dumb question.]
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[But that aside, and Felicia's giggling aside--well, she's a little serious.]
...Have you found any unusual scars on yourself, as of late?
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[Huh, that's odd...]
No, I haven't. I haven't noticed anything of the sort. Why?
[Well, he can guess why, but...]
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Felicia's hand darts up to the spot where her scar is, unconsciously--before simply going up to grip her brooch a bit, look going to the ground in the process.]
...I was just wondering. I found one when I was checking myself over, a week or so ago.
[It's a bit awkward, but...]
I was wondering if anyone else had experienced something similar. That's all.
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Surely it's just a coincidence. He hasn't seen Felicia grip her brooch like that before, but that doesn't mean that that's the exact location of her newly-formed scar. That doesn't make any sense. There's no reason to believe that it has any connections to any scars he may or may not have - that's absolutely ridiculous.]
I see. No, that's the first I've heard of something like that. Though I suppose the Shimmer did do something strange to Gabriel and Garma's injuries...
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At any rate, that bit about Gabriel and Garma gets Felicia's attention.]
What? I heard that Garma's injury was healing faster than expected, but...did something happen to them?
[fret mode: activated]
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[A new scar, though...]
Out of curiosity, where did this scar appear on you?
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[As for the question, though...well, there's not exactly any hiding it, and Felicia does trust Yeager at least. Felicia brings her hand up to where the scar is to show him.]
It's right here.
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Does it hurt? That sounds... Well, it sounds terrifying to find something like that.
[It has to be a coincidence. There's no other explanation. There can't be any other explanation.]
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[Felicia looks back to Yeager--enough to catch that motion, or at least, the part where he swiftly pulls away. There's a brief knitting of her brows in concern, but...
Maybe it's not important.]
It's just kind of strange to look at and see it, more than anything. But I'm not sure how it could have happened.
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Well, I do hope it doesn't get any worse. Be sure to let Emma know if you're having problems with it, ja? Especially if it... does anything strange.
[Emma's the only other female medic, after all...
Hopefully there won't be any growth or anything else weird happening there, but... Well, only time will tell, won't it?]
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[...]
But hopefully it doesn't--maybe it'll just have half a mind to go away.
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[Thanks, Shimmer, he hates it!!]