[video]
The last several jolts of Vianca's consciousness had not been what anyone could call pleasant. The last thing she had remembered about Havenwell was the warmth of morning sunshine. Then that sunshine had lost its warmth, its departure bringing weak stutters of breath and the crumbled remains of a place that had once been her whole world. The sunlight was still there, filtering in through the broken ceilings and crushed walls. Oh, she had thought as she laid there, a dream. A very nice one. It was a shame she couldn't hold on to it in the end.
Then there was nothing.
So when she opened her eyes in a sunlit temple a second time, she was not sure what to do. She stayed right there for a very long time, until one of the kind priests helped her to her feet so she could find her way. It... had been cold, the last time she had been outside? She thought so anyway, but the more she thought about it, the more she wasn't sure. Maybe it had been warm the whole time?
She had only gotten so far through the temple before she had to crouch down in a corner, because things were a little too overwhelming. Thinking about what the season meant was too much. Starting over was too much. What if it was just her all over again? That, more than anything, was far too much.
It took a very long time, but eventually Vianca slowly picked up the tablet that had been handed to her. Whether it was the same one she'd had or a new one, she didn't have the courage to check. The focus was simply on opening the network and keeping her breath steady.
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[It was a little bit dark there in the corner of Ohma's temple, but it was still possible to see the pink little girl on the screen. Her mouth was pressed in a thin, worried line, and for a moment it might have seemed like the video frame was actually frozen.
Then she took a breath, and spoke in a spectacularly tiny voice into the screen.]
... Hello?
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Did you have a place to stay that is not on your own? I know that your shop was looked after.
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... It... was looked after?
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[ She's well noticed that the question that she had placed more importance on hasn't been answered, but perhaps that was a lot for her to say at once. She'll wait. ]
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Ah. It was her library key that locked the door though. She wondered if she would be able to ask for that back.]
Mm. That is good.
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[ Again she was careful, not wanting to overstep. But if it helped Vianca to know that a place she had cared about was still there for her, then hopefully it was some comfort. ]
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[It was a comfort, certainly, even if she was taking the completely wrong idea from it.
Had Noctis already talked to her about it? who knows timelines are a mysteryIt would be nice to visit, once she’d gotten a better idea of whether or not she was going to vanish if she crossed past the threshold of Ohma’s domain.]How are all of the cats?
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[ Look, here's a Kova to poke his nose into the screen. ]
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Hello, Kova.
That would be nice, I think.
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[ Sure, she can't teleport anymore, but not many seemed to recall that she could do so anyway. Mostly she just doesn't want to overstep, if someone is already attending to Vianca's needs, but it's such a familiar passivity. ]
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You would not be. I am just at Dr. Ohma's temple.
[It was not a visible thing, but Vianca was relieved for the offer. Being afraid of straying too far from the temple was probably a bit silly, but she didn't know what to expect. She'd heard of people coming back, but they weren't the same ones they were before. What if she was supposed to be different too? Surely it made sense to remember things while she was in the safety of the god of knowledge's home.
These were, of course, mostly the worries of someone who had a while to sit around and W o r r y before she even talked to anyone.]
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[ Without hesitation, then. Ohma's temple was not so far away from where they were situated, southwest in the city for convenience. A bit of a walk, but that was expected. ]
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So this time Vianca had made herself very easy to find, perched right there at the top of the temple steps.]
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She sets the cat down, letting him cross the rest of the distance quicker, to navigate up those stairs to the little pink waiting. Hello. ]
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Hello.
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Here you are. Are you hungry at all?
[ All of these questions, Vianca. ]
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Tamaki brought a snack when he visited. I am okay.
[But if Honerva had also brought a snack, there would be no way for Vianca to say no.]
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But this was news. She'd been visited and was still hanging around this place? ]
Then you might consider it something for later... as long as you don't wait too long, of course. Has... no one come to take you to your house yet?
[ Sorry, she's feeling a little peak Motherly here and doesn't know what to do about it. ]
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Thank you.
[But also: hm. Housing. Yes. Vianca tilt her head slightly as she pet Kova, considering.]
No one has to do that?
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[ If that's the case, it might make sense as to why she's hanging around the temple. Her shop was cared for, certainly, but if no one knew where else her residence was, anything there might be lost or gathered up by the citizens for safekeeping. ]
My apologies if I am pressing you too much, of course. It just seemed strange to me that you would linger in this area otherwise, unless you were waiting to meet with someone you were already settled with.
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Being on her own was just the normal thing to be. Even when she was actively in a situation with room mates.... her room mates usually were not around. The transition to being on her own was simple and had simply just been the way of it. Her first trek through Havenwell hadn't changed that either.
But that really wasn't why she was lingering at the temple. Admitting the fear that she would simply disappear once she strode past the temple threshold was too much of one to admit to Honerva comfortably. There was a similar one though that was really just as valid.]
I... am waiting. I want to be sure I remember things.
[She paused.]
... I do not know if the other people that came back did not remember in the first place, or forgot somewhere along the way.
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Memory... is complicated. But the fact is that you remember now... and you have interacted with others who can verify that. It further means that you aren't going to lose it again so soon. You're not being told of another Vianca's experience or history, you aren't rejecting outright anyone you see or hear from.
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I am just not sure if it is me, or if it is Dr. Ohma.
[The only way to be sure would be to leave, but. Well. She wasn't comfy with that thought yet.]
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What parts do you find yourself questioning?
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I suppose... it is that I do not know if I am holding on to them with my own power?
Or if I have them because we are sitting with the god of knowledge?
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There was still certainly too little that they knew about certain things--but it was too much to place upon unknown entities. ]
... When it comes to memories, there are much we do not know, but if you have been returned to this world again with them intact, then I feel it means they have... grown with you. Besides, others have had other alignments, some have slipped away or recieved "other" memories from timelines that seemingly go on. Circumstances... can be unique, and so much is simply circumstantial.
[ But that also is a little too heavy, but it is difficult to not get so deeply logical when so much of her own life is currently because of the bonds and memories she was able to make rather than anything she'd had prior. ]
All that to say... is that you are Vianca and those memories are yours. The world didn't take them from you, a god didn't make them for you. You are present... to continue.
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