2017-06-05: Memories Buried Deep
- Log: Memories Buried Deep
- Cast: Riesenlied, Maya Schrodinger
- Where: Adelyn Ranchlands
- Date: 5th June 2017
- Summary: Riesenlied helps Maya gather her confidence and sort out her memories.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied is seated not too far from the Fiends' camp, giving the two some privacy for what's essentially a makeshift therapy session. She's lit a lantern to set beside her, and made a little clearing and rolled out a mattress for the heir to Schrodinger to be comfortable on.
"Can I get you anything to drink, before we start, or...?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Privacy is relative: Maya and Riesenlied are never far from the watchful eyes of the tiny beastman ninja, but even if his presence is felt, it's unintrusive. For now, while his boss is safe.
The beleaguered, bespectacled Maya is sitting on her knees on the mattress, looking very tired. "I do not need anything to drink, no..." she murmurs quietly.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied nods gently as she reaches her hand out, ever so softly. On some level, she might be able to twig the ninja's presence out, just by virtue of how her senses tend to be tuned to beasts and dragons, but... that's neither here nor there. It's not like she minds, either way.
"Okay. Can you start slow, and tell me what happened?" Riesenlied asks. "Starting as far back as you think it relevant..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Isn't this dangerous? Or irresponsible? To give a potential enemy a report on how well their weapon disabled her? Perhaps. But then, this Maya isn't in a good state to consider that kind of calculus. Whatever Riese is reaching for, she doesn't get her hand batted away or anything.
She frowns a little, though. "You mean--when that light...?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Well... if you'd like to," Riesenlied says. "I know what my weapon is capable of. Because I am that weapon, Miss Maya. And while I understand that one should never draw a weapon without grasping well the possibility to harm... I know full well this isn't the intended effect it should have. Thus... let's sort this out."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maya's trembling fingers take her own glasses off and her eyes shut. "I remember that I couldn't... think, the light made my mind... hurt. All of my magic stopped working, and--I think... it was because it took up so much space in my head. Does it f--fool someone with false memories?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied places a hand to her lip. "No."
She closes her eyes, and then says, "It overwhelms the mind for a brief moment -- it robs you of your sensation for battle, particularly the fight or flight reaction. By taking that away even for a mere second, it helps one re-evaluate what it is they're doing... unclouded by the red haze of combat."
She tilts her head. "I do not profess to know how your magic works, Miss Schrodinger, but... are you perhaps seeing a memory you have forgotten?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maya frowns again, and it isn't the frustrated tic of one who wants to enter into an argument. It's a troubled, uncertain look. "What else could it be? But I don't have... any gaps in my memory that I know about, so it's strange..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied shakes her head and smiles gently, saying, "Let's take this slow, then. Can you tell me what you saw?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
A short breath precedes what little Maya can remember. "There was a bed that I sat on, but it was made of metal...? I've never had a bed made of metal. It was really cold..." she puts a hand to her own cheek. "Aveh is never... really cold, indoors... then, there's a pinprick at my shoulder and it's all gone."
"I don't know anything like that, not even a little..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied hesitates for a moment, but suggests, "Cold suggests underground, to me. If it was anywhere near the desert you lived, you'd be surprised how could it could get under the ground. Much of the heat is reflected by the desert, after all. ... and a metal bed... is typically used for such activities like medicine, surgery, science..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
"The reflectance value of sand is about 0.40, compared to the albedo rating of ice or snow of 0.80, I know, the desert gets cold at night--but our home is really nice, and doesn't get cold like that..." Maya mumbles, a hand in her hair. "Dad wasn't a scientist or a doctor, either... at least--I don't think he was."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"You're educated," Riesenlied smiles appreciatively. "Was there a point in your childhood where you were ill, for instance? Though I can barely think that you would be brought somewhere unpleasant. Or perhaps you were taken to a relative's workplace?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maya has a guilty little smile on her face at that comment, fingers still in her damp hair. "Yeah, there's not... much else for a girl with a weak body to do... somewhere like that. I read a lot of books."
An understatement.
"I didn't need... medicine, so that's why it's confusing..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied taps at her chin. "You say you had a weak body? But the times I've seen you, you've been strong -- agile, sorcerous. What changed between then and now?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maya is beginning to sweat a little more. This is encroaching on dangerous secrets. "That's... what I meant by 'my' magic. I one day found I could change... myself, and become strong."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
There's a little hum of thought, as Riesenlied nods slowly. "... I see. ... might this magic of yours have anything to do with your memory, perhaps? Your appearance does radically change, between now and who I am used to seeing you as..."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Those eyes open again, and they're a little cloudy. "Well, I don't enjoy sitting around in a weak body, so I don't return to being like this by choice..." Maya admits. "It's also like--I can wear a mask that makes me feel like I can do anything, and be brave..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied would fold her arms, but one of her arms isn't working. "Putting on a mask, and becoming someone else...? I admit, outside of my brethren, I have never seen anyone with that kind of power before. ... does that power bring any twist of memory?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
"No." Maya confirms gently, sighing. There's something approaching relief about ripping the band-aid of secrecy off, at least. The anxiety of doing so: worse than doing so. "I don't take on someone else's ... memory, or anything. That's why this is so strange..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied seems respectful of it, at the very least. It isn't as if she'd inquire deep into it and spread the secret out. "... does it feel foreign? It may not be known to you, but dig a bit deeper. Does it feel yours, or does it feel like a falsehood?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
Maya bites gently on the end of her glasses, not looking up yet. "I've... never read anything like that memory. It's not bleeding over from something I've been using, I don't know why it troubles me so..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"That it troubles you so means that there is meaning there," Riesenlied speaks. She pauses, and then relates quietly, "... I have similar memories. Memories of metal beds, of iron shackles. Of cylindrical tubes filled with sustaining fluid. Charts. Figures in coats. ... pain. Overwhelming pain."
A pause. "It is not... an experiment, is it?"
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
"It's nothing like... anything else." Maya murmurs quietly, "I don't have a mysterious childhood like all of storied heroes I read about. It made me feel like I was losing my grip...? It's not like the--terrible things you've lived through."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied shakes her head and says, "Perhaps attempting to think too hard on it is not what's relevant now. We know that this is a memory that troubles you. We need to overcome it." She tilts her head. "If it is not part of the set of memories you hold dear... then think deep on the ones that do matter. Of being a Drifter. Of wielding ARMs for your justice. Saving the King of Lacour... protecting those that you hold dear."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
The bespectacled girl's shoulders slump a little. "I ... wondered if that you dragged the memory out of wherever it was lying at all is what did the damage. It feels like it was meant to stay buried...?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied places her hand to her cheek and shrugs slowly. "... it isn't good to keep memories buried, in my experience. If not now, they may resurface at a worse time. ... I've learnt, all of this time, to accept painful ones, all of them... but you needn't do it alone."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
"I think--I'd begun to accept that..." Maya admits quietly, after a few moments of contemplation. "Even if I'm a little frightened to find out what those memories mean..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... you don't have to take it all in at once," Riesenlied rises slowly. "At some point in our lives, we all discover truths that do not conveniently align with our perception of reality. Whether it is one of faith, of lineage, of duty... we all have no choice but to take it by the horns, endure the pain, and walk stronger for it. ... that is one of the reasons I consider myself a Drifter, even after all of this. Even if I cannot embrace the title fully."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
"Drifter..."
Maya whispers the word and gaze upon her own hand, pale and soft as it is. "I think... my reasons for wearing that title are changing. After everything I've seen..." she blinks and glances up, at the standing Riesenlied.
"It must sound flakey, but, I feel like it's important..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"That's fine..." Riesenlied answers. "One does not become a Drifter for one reason alone, and neither is it an unchanging one. I have no doubt my paths will change before I see it all through to the end. But for now, perhaps, you need to find the most immediate reason to grasp onto... and do what must be done, before it is too late. You have friends in need." She glances to the trees. "Friends who are worried about you."
<Pose Tracker> Maya Schrodinger has posed.
There's a wan smile from the blonde girl, gazing at her glasses in the dark. "I hope our paths can cross again, once the story's unfolded a little further... I don't like where it's left the two of us right now."
Maya glances up again, and her spectacles gently boil away into mist.
"Until then--I think... I think I know what to hold onto."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... it is not a satisfying end, no," Riesenlied shakes her head. "... and regardless of whether I intend it or not, I am sorry. ... about everything. Our paths will no doubt cross again in the future. Continue to do as you have... and I shall have no doubt that you will flourish and set your wings free."
Well, Ginny's in Hellion form, someone has to make the metaphors for her, OK?