not_the_last: (Default)
not_the_last (Cassandra de Rolo) ([personal profile] not_the_last) wrote in [community profile] come_sailaway2023-09-11 12:48 pm

wake me up when September ends [OTA + closed prompts]

Who: Cassandra de Rolo, OTA + closed prompts
When: September
Where: Around the Serena Eterna
What: Flowers and their curious effects
Warnings: Game-typical angst; further content warnings in headers as they come up. The prompts below are occurring in no particular order over the course of the month.

1. summer has come and passed; the innocent can never last

Vivid purple-blue and yellow pansies nod at her from where they've twined up the banister along the stairwell, almost brushing her shoulder as she hurries by.

Later -- well, Cassandra isn't in large crowds very often these days, is she? But someone at the buffet on this particular morning may overhear the murmur you don't need more than one slice; someone in just the right part of the Promenade a little later may overhear there's a clear path to the stairwell if he comes this way; someone passing by Sundries in the next five minutes may overhear still need to talk to Valdis about the gun.

2. ring out the bells again, like we did when spring began

In a corner of the library there's a spreading cluster of the tiny white flowers of baby's breath, looking sweet and harmless.

On a comfortable chair not very far from that point is a pile of cloth that might, on closer study, resolve itself into a dark grey skirt, a white blouse, a blue and grey patterned waistcoat, and a leather belt with a bag attached on one side and a sheathed rapier on the other. The pile is oddly arranged, as though the person wearing the clothes had vanished from inside them while still sitting there; as though to support this image, a pair of sturdy brown boots is on the floor in front of the chair.

On top of the pile is a two-inch-tall Cassandra, bundled in in the stiff and voluminous folds of a dainty silk handkerchief, struggling to press buttons on a phone that is now bigger than she is.

(The screen currently reads ERIN ITS CA)

[Note: this prompt is not closed to Erin! Anyone is welcome to happen upon tiny Cass while she's trying to text.]

3. drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are [closed to Phil]

A patch of poppies has sprung up on the rooftop that's one of the Serena's highest points, where few can climb. With the number of passengers that can fly, that's less a guarantee than it might be, but Cassandra still seeks solitude up there every so often -- and today, that means she falls asleep there, with vivid red petals pooled around her dark head.

In the dream she's twelve again, lined up with her brothers and sisters in their finery, excited about the visiting strangers and the welcome feast that's about to begin.

4. seven years have gone so fast

Wildcard! If you want to talk to Cassandra at a point where she is not affected by flower nonsense, feel free. Message me here or on discord if you'd like an individual prompt.
redlightgreenlight: (Unsure)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2023-09-19 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
Valdis arches a brow.

"What's wrong, Cassandra? You're acting strange."

Maybe not strange, but she feels off somehow.
goodweather: (but not quite either!)

[personal profile] goodweather 2023-09-19 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
Phil takes only a moment before he surges upwards with his bloodied sword pointed at the one holding Ludwig.


That, he only tries once. Sneaking past is something he tries more. He'll get it right.


Going directly up to Cassandra is surely not the best path to resolving this entire mess, but knowing what's going on in every place will help him in the long run, and anyway it's only a thought he has at the end. He always forgets exactly where she is, at the start. Always forgets Anders' betrayal until he does it. Something about this loop isn't very sticky. That bothers him; but like the faint impressions of an overworked sketch you couldn't quite erase, things begin to pile on, impressing a shape. He'll make it work. Eventually.


Killing Anders stops being a priority after the 5th time. It's already starting to get easier to focus.


Phil (finally) slips into the minstrel gallery, silent as he can will it, his lone owlish eye gleaming red in the dark with reflected light. He's miserably aware in the darkness; all of her petrified form is visible to him.

He crouches low, keeping distance. Whispers: "Your Ladyship."
Edited 2023-09-19 07:26 (UTC)
yourexoduslaughing: (big grin)

[personal profile] yourexoduslaughing 2023-09-19 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"They do! It's like, a total crapshoot, but there's totally worlds where it's just your world with a minor - or major - change! It might even be every dimension has a million different variations on minor themes but they don't seem to show up as much. Like in theory, there's a million versions of this world we're in where it changes depending on which flowers we got hit with, or even what we had for breakfast, but in practice? We mostly saw big changes coming through the elevator, and I've yet to meet another version of me! Though it would be cool if they existed!"

Into the Sand Dollar they go, and Flan automatically vaults the front counter, realizing halfway through that there's a tiny Cass in her front pocket. WHOOPS! She gets a hand up, just to make sure Cassandra doesn't fly out. "But! They might, and like, they just didn't show up to me! We'd have to ask actual inter-dimensional travellers what the situation is!"
actuallyawolf: (cautious)

[personal profile] actuallyawolf 2023-09-19 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Ylva blinks, hard, trying to work out what she just heard. "I mean, yeah, they'd be fine," she says, uncertain. "They're pretty important, goodberries."

She stares for a moment, biting her lip. "How're you doing that thing with your voice?"
goodweather: (it's GROUNDHOG DAY!)

[personal profile] goodweather 2023-09-20 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
It wouldn't matter. She could speak no louder than the thud of her own racing heart and he would hear her.

"Yes." His third eyelid flicks; he approaches carefully, the faint brush of feathers making no sound as it passes over the floor. "My Lady, how--how did you--how did you get here? I thought..."
crushed_pearls: (Default)

[personal profile] crushed_pearls 2023-09-20 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Closet door shuts, merry whistling, tiny grappling hooks made...

"...Cass?" Erin's being slightly louder than she has to be. "You still exploring the castle?"

For the love of God don't tell her Cass managed to get kidnapped out of the locked cabin.
goodweather: (18)

[personal profile] goodweather 2023-09-20 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
Kill the Lord de Rolo. God, oh, God.

He holds her close, as much a comfort for him to see her safe as it is for her to fold into him. It might almost make it ignorable, the sound of every blade and every heavy wet thunk and every scream and every broken bone and every catastrophe happening below.

"I don't--" Where do they go? What is he supposed to do? Not questions he should ask of a little scared girl. He takes a deep breath. They need to move. He'll put himself between her and every blade if he has to. Death doesn't scare him, but he won't see her killed, not on his account.

God--how do you handle a castle invasion? He probably wouldn't know even if he lived here his whole life. "Can we try and--and find more guards? The garrison? Someone?"
be_seeing_you: (somber)

[personal profile] be_seeing_you 2023-09-20 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Strange. He is very sure he did not see her mouth move to form that second statement.

"Forgive me. I fear you may have been... thinking out loud."
goodweather: (36)

[personal profile] goodweather 2023-09-20 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
It's taking so, so much for him to not choke, or throw up, or something. It's hard enough to even stand. Focus. Focus. This won't be his only shot, but he just needs to make sure that she isn't the one caught in the middle.

"Then let's go get him," he says, trying so very hard not to think about too lates. He straightens. He'd still clutch little Cassandra to his chest if he could, but her hand--he won't let go of her hand.

He pauses at the door. Listens close for footsteps, bless this gift of Cordis today that he can tell exactly how far away they are, and hurries through the way. Please grant them safe passage, please let Addisleigh be okay, the barracks somehow intact, please...
yourexoduslaughing: art by @splicerparade on twitter/tumblr (:))

[personal profile] yourexoduslaughing 2023-09-20 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh yeah like, that's number one for all of us!" She grabs a plate and the smallest espresso cup there is, and a tiny itty bitty madeleine. "Are you a tea or coffee person? Or are you like me, and you like your drinks full of sugar and/or fruit? Also, yeah that's totally been a question I've asked! Haven't met anyone from one of my neighbouring universes yet, just the sister-ones like where Daisy's from, but I wanna meet another Flan! I figure depending on how this all works out, when I get back to my world, we'll just have to pass ourselves off as twins! I'll make the sacrifice and change my name!"
redlightgreenlight: (skeptical)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2023-09-20 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
She's hearing Cassandra's voice, but the woman's mouth isn't moving. Perhaps her earlier evaluation about speaking into the mind was accurate, except Cass doesn't know she is doing it.

"I think I can hear your thoughts."
goodweather: (it's GROUNDHOG DAY!)

[personal profile] goodweather 2023-09-21 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
If Cassandra ever died in those falls, he wouldn’t know. It was always his spine that broke first.

The wind blasts them in frost as they crash through the window and enter freefall, cutting through his clothing. He twists, his muscle responds, and the wind catches. He pulls them up. With great strain, he pulls them up, just as he did when he caught Darcy from the sky, when he caught Henry in the end of the world. Guards holler after them, unable to pursue. No one below with a bow has spotted them against the darkening sky.

He can tell something is wrong in the barracks even before they close in.
yourexoduslaughing: art by @splicerparade on twitter/tumblr (Default)

[personal profile] yourexoduslaughing 2023-09-21 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
"There sure is!" Flan gets the hot water going and starts pulling up the teas, and the glass jar with the honey. They're going to have to think of something for her to drink out of since the espresso cup isn't cutting it, and Flan racks her brain.

"Yeah, totally! Like, it's obviously not a guarantee but it's as likely as anything else - maybe even more likely, depending on how we got copied here! Sometimes it's a lot easier to reverse something than to make something new! Anyway, going back probably also depends on what your relationship with yourself is life too. Not everyone is willing to share, even with a version of themselves!" She digs around, coming up with one of those instant creamers, holding it up to Cass to eyeball if it would work. It's still a little big. "In that case, you could probably change your name and become a whole other person, assuming you're not like, a known celebrity where you're from!"

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