cinderlea | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ Riku disappears first. Vanished in her sleep, in the middle of the night, collapsing in on herself in a shimmer of starlights. This isn't like last time. No warnings, no chances to say goodbye, no hesitation or resistance. She just isn't there.

Lea goes minutes after Riku, in the same way. But she's awake, lounging on her couch, having a conversation as she flips through her phone. Here and then gone, like a flame. This isn't the first time either of them have gone home, but it's the first time it's so abrupt. At least it isn't death. The last time Riku went home was seven years ago. She was gone for a month, and she came back with shorter hair and the Mark of Mastery. The last time Lea went home, no one really noticed. She thought she was used to it by now.

Things are different this time. Disorienting. Lea meets Kai in the training, for real this time. Riku has her memories, or at least most of them. They're hazy, dreamlike, but real. She has them all. She remembers how old she really is and how long she's been gone. She remembers everyone she cares about, and everyone that won't change here. She keeps her ice magic and takes what she's learned here to use there. But time is fluid. She doesn't feel like she's been gone for seven years.

Lea's are gone, for now. She lives everything new and fresh, with the dressing room appearing only in dreams vivid enough to unsettle her.

Things aren't the same for every world.

Things go better than expected.

The core story is the same. The heroes rescue the ones that need it, they bring everyone back, they defeat the darkness, and they go home. How and when and who — these things vary, but they do it all together and they go home together. And then their story is over, at least for now, and they come back.

Unlike how they went out, Lea and Riku reappear together on the beach. Coming back is just as disorienting, and neither has their phone, so they get their bearings and confirm memories with each other, of the dressing room and of home, and then separate to find their friends.

They've been gone two months. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Depends. Does everyone else look at them and assume they're dating? Do they not realize they're dating? If you answered YES to either of these...

God. Lea eyes her out of the corner of her eyes, looking smug. ]

Look. They were good enough at the time.

[what if the answer to both is yes, what then? no, neither of them is obtuse enough to not realize they're dating.]

Sounds about right. Something about motivating you and reminding you of what was at stake, or something about not deserving real people clothes until it was all over, I bet.

[she knows u, Lea. the problem is that your dumb reasons ARE good.]

You didn't have to call me out like that.

[ She could've pretended it was for stealth or Heart protection or something, jeez. Also yeah they're both smarter than Riku and Red at least— ]

[Red and Riku were dumbasses, it's true.

Didn't I, though. I bet Kai asked you about it while you two were training, especially since he also got new clothes.

[that's right, Axel showed her the part where you pulled ice cream out of your ass and then remembered something and then excused yourself so you could cry without really being aware of the cause.]

Hey, I got my new clothes. I just didn't put 'em on. I told him I was waiting for the right time.

[ Which is true, thank you very much. Lea doesn't even know she has scenes in the new game, why would anyone want to see Kai kicking her ass in the magic time bubble. ]

Halloween Town's gonna be nice this time, right?

[sadly there was no ass-kicking, which was a damn shame. are they magically almost to HT?]

Hopefully. Maybe I should go in first this time just to avoid it doing the thing from the other time.

[ Up to you, she's just trying to get the subject off her dumb ass. ]

You think it would?

Maybe. Maybe you jinxed it by talking about how cool it was, so it did the opposite for me that time.

[maybe Lea will get fucked over this time, who knows. but yeah, they're almost there, might as well be.]

[ Fucked over is no fun. ]

Hey, don't blame me for this place being evil. Speaking of, did I miss any spells while we were gone?

None that I was aware of, unless you all disappearing simultaneously counts.

[well. Lea probably doesn't even know what she's in for on that front, re: being regular fucked. here's the door to Halloween Town.]

Nah, I think that's just part of having a story.

[ She almost certainly has no idea. Woo woo, Halloween Town. She's excited to see Isa's new, actual, non-dickish costume, but she's also worried it'll be the same thing as last time. ]

You go first, right?

Yep.

[Isa gives Lea a brief cheek smooch and lets go of her hand before opening the door and striding through it. she starts transforming once she's a few feet away from the door, and it sounds horrible, lots of cracking and crunching noises, but she doesn't seem to be in any pain from it. bones lengthen and joints bend the wrong way for a human, big claws extend from hands and feet, shaggy blueish-grey fur sprouts all over her and replaces her clothing, and black antlers burst from her head, which is itself changing pretty dramatically. it's wolfish in nature, but the mouth makes up too much of it, being hinged almost back at the point where it attaches to her spine, and full of far too many horribly sharp and jagged teeth.

once everything seems to have come to a stop, Isa's crouched on three limbs, posture somewhere between animal and human. it looks like she'd be about eight feet tall if she stood up fully. the cherry on top, that she forgot to mention and which is the real commentary on her as a person, is the heavy chains that materialize from nothing, wrapped around her shoulders and upper arms like a shrug, the ends dangling at her sides. she doesn't even seem to have noticed them. if it's possible for this horrible nightmare face to look really excited and expectant, she's doing it. whatchu think, bestie?]

[ How nice of Isa to give her a goodbye kiss before she transforms into a fuckin' werecreature. Lea looks a little stunned when she watches it, horrified with worry at first that Isa's being hurt, but then more and more visibly excited as it goes on. She doesn't even notice the chains at first, too enraptured by how gnarly this costume is, although she does notice them when they're finished materializing. It's what makes her stop hesitating to step through the door at first, but... let's not focus on those.

The DR doesn't offer any surprises for Lea's costume, giving her the same demonic look as before. Lea, also, doesn't offer any surprises in her reaction. ]

That's so cool! Why's it so much cooler than mine? Did it hurt? Are you okay?

I'm fine, it didn't hurt at all. And yours is really cool too, dummy.

[that mouth shouldn't be able to speak so clearly, but ~magic~. it's not fully moving like it actually would for speech, at least, and her voice is just sort of emanating from the vicinity of her face.]

Psh, yeah, but it's not the same kind of cool.

[ She's floating again, and so is her hair, and she's reaching out to touch Isa in case this is a cool illusion. She knows it's not, but. She still wants to touch. This is way more badass and scary than hers, at least. ]

[i dunno, Lea's reminds me of this, and that's never something i want to see anywhere close to me. they explode when they die! ~~how fitting. i'll show myself out.~~

Isa is large and very fuzzy right now, and her skull alone is longer than Lea's noodle arms. she's debating licking Lea tbh, but feels like that might be a little too forward, and also there's a very real danger regarding sticking her tongue out between all those teeth.]

Says you. I wonder if it would let us swap somehow.

[ What, the fact that she's on fire isn't a licking deterrent?

That's pretty similar in body language and cracked armor, wtf. The horns, too, are almost spot on. But it's missing her human appearance and new goat features. She's close enough that Isa should see her weird black-green goat eyes again, and she looks like laughing. ]

Yeah right. I'd give it a shot if we could find a way, but it won't happen. You think there's a word for what you are right now?

[not since she laid hands on Lea the other time and didn't get burned, no. Isa cranes her slightly-too-long neck to look down at herself, wiggling her clawed toes. her own eyes have slitted pupils, this close.]

"Beastly" sums it up, I think. Like that one Xaldin was obsessed with, but cooler.

[Isa doesn't have a cape, though. she thinks Lea looks lovely, anyway. <3 she didn't really have a chance the other time to appreciate how cute the ears are.]

Right. Shit, I should take a picture for you, or we should find a mirror. What does this feel like?

[ She's going to touch the top of Isa's head? Or what she can reach, anyway. ]

[where is phone in all of that fire, or is Lea thinking of going back into the hall to get a photo from there? but now Isa's distracted by how that feels, and leans down so Lea can get to the antlers better, carefully.]

-uh. Kind of like when your foot's asleep and you try poking it. I can feel you touching them but mostly because I can feel it via the rest of my head.

[ Her phone vanished with her clothes. She would have to leave and toss it in and follow it in order for it to stick around, alas. Meanwhile, antlers. She's really careful with them, but they're so cool looking, and she's never felt antlers before. ]

I feel like you could kill someone with these.

Probably. But why would I, when I could just bite them?

[this is probably just Isa's rule of thumb anyway, if we're being honest. there's a strong chance that she at least tried to bite Dilan one of the times they were tossed out.]

I dunno, showing off?

[ Why Dilan? She'd be most likely to bite back, if you ask me. ]

Pick me up.

[Aeleus was too intimidating while also being nice and well-meaning. Dilan was just an asshole.

Isa briefly considers just tossing Lea over her shoulder, but the antlers are a concern, and also it's not as if she's going to cart her off to bed here, or something. so instead she just puts her giant clawed hands on Lea's waist and just lifts her straight up without any apparent effort at all. looks like her strength increased along with her size.]

At least ask me to do something challenging.

[ Oh fuck. It's a good thing this is Isa and not a real monster, because then she might be scared. Or at least nervous about being held by this colossal badass. The goat ears wobble a little, and her tail is flicking around wildly. ]

Please, it's not even challenging for you normally. What should we do with this?