it's a war in there [March OTA, including memshare]

[not_the_last]

Who: Cassandra de Rolo & those visiting her memories / OTA
When: March
Where: Around the Serena Eterna; also Whitestone, at various points in the past
What: Things are beginning to crack
Warnings: Game-typical angst; in memshares, murder, torture, vampirism, mindfuckery both magical and mundane, and potentially noncon/dubcon; other warnings to be added in reply headers as needed

A. you're just like them, you're unprepared

Cassandra's noticed the cracks, of course. Before she brushes against one, they seem alarming and inexplicable; are they a trick, a trap, a sign that this whole little artificial plane is starting to come apart?

(The thought she barely lets herself contemplate: a way out?)

After her first few encounters with them, the nature of them seems more apparent -- although there's no guarantee they aren't also any of her previous thoughts. The first time her own memories double on her, with faces she knows from here appearing in them, she locks herself in her cabin's bathroom and curls up on the floor of the shower, arms wrapped around her knees, struggling not to begin screaming for fear that she might never stop.

[This prompt is for interacting with Cassandra in the present setting! Feel free to run into her anywhere on board, either before or after memshares begin, or PM/ping me on discord to discuss a more specific prompt.]

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B. cause you don't know the terrain

Several cracks about the ship, as it turns out, lead to a world called Exandria and a little city-state called Whitestone. Those who tumble into them will encounter a younger Cassandra at some point in her past.

[Specific pre-discussed prompts are below! If you would like a different one, see the plotting post here or PM/ping me to discuss.]

Comments

[not_the_last]

Cassandra shakes her head, not in disagreement but in grim unease. "And maybe it's just that difficult to understand, but ... I can't help wondering if it isn't all just layer on layer of misdirection. Maybe we are getting closer to understanding, but it feels like we're being led in circles instead. Like following a false trail in a maze."

She presses two fingers to the inner corners of her eyes. "Or else I'm just doubting everything again."

[pointofhonoria]

"Well, Friday sure seemed like she didn't want those sigils found, so maybe we you're right and are makin' more ground than we think, no matter if it feels like it not. That's—" she sighs again, "probably the extent of my available optimism right now, though, mind."

[not_the_last]

"It's more than I've got," says Cassandra, with an expression that's trying for a rueful smile and isn't quite making it.

[pointofhonoria]

Crabb chuckles emptily. "Suppose we're just gonna have to make the bit of it some of us do have go around, ey?"

[not_the_last]

... All right, now it's a smile. Crooked, unhappy, and exhausted, but still a smile.

"I suppose so," she says, and gently presses Crabb's hand again.

[pointofhonoria]

Crabb gives a gentle squeeze in return. "The one thing I do know is I ain't giving up, wouldn't be me if I did. No matter what goes down, anyone needs me any step of the way, you included, and I'm gonna try be there, yeah? Even if it's a bit harder without my bleedin' phone..."

[not_the_last]

"There has to be some way to get that back," says Cassandra, buoyed by a brief flare of mild annoyance on Crabb's behalf. "Sooner or later."

[pointofhonoria]

Crabb shakes her head with a faint groan. "Assumin' Friday ever shows her bleedin'— lack of face again... hopefully. If she'll even bleedin' talk to me when that happens."

[not_the_last]

Firmly: "If she won't, then she can talk to me about it."

(It's reflexive, almost unconscious, the assumption that this kind of thing is her responsibility.)

[pointofhonoria]

"Appreciate the energy. I can be pretty persistent, mind, but..."

There's something about seeing someone throw themself off the ship because of something you did that doesn't make her super inclined to push, but maybe when push comes to shove she will.