[At some point, after sifting from myriad dreams of distant worlds and Eventualities, one stops at a place she had come to know quite well -- a village, an eternal sunset, a beach.
[Jade recognizes Silvergrove like an old friend when she arrives with the flash of a searing headache, followed by sounds of rushing waters, jungle birds, and humming insects. A beautiful dream back then... and a haunting one now, knowing what lay underneath the veneer of pleasant smiles and overly friendly gestures.]
"What, are you going to just let me in the front gates? Just like that?" "Why not? Trust has to start somewhere."
"You'd really let a total stranger into your home and speak to your son?" "Of course. Trust has to start somehere, doesn't it?"
[Even the Boy had eagerly welcomed her back to this vivid mirage, seemingly hale and whole once again, devoid of the bumps and swelling and the clumped leg since the very last moments she had seen him alive.
["Sister, you're back!"
[Though Jade knew his true face, had seen the Boy's deformities underneath the illusion when they meet again... she didn't wince when he throws his arms around her waist in a brotherly hug. After all, she had promised that she wouldn't hate and abandon him when she saw his true self, and that much remains true, even now.
[And Jade plays along, at least in the first few hours, knowing that this dream would never last. It hurts. This place had been like home to her for a time, or an idea of what could be a home where people treated each other with trust and kindness, when she had known mostly hatred and rejection her entire life. Even though she knew there was a sense of wrongness in the air the first time, even when she knew she couldn't stay when she had so wanted to... What point was there in fighting anymore, anyways? She had lost so much, hurt what few friends she had left. Wouldn't it have been better for her to disappear, where she could at least make one person happy? So what if it wasn't real?
[But it didn't take long before she saw it -- the lingering shadows following the Boy. By now had traversed enough worlds to know what that darkness means. More specifically, what they were reaching towards.
["Is something wrong, sister?" the Boy had asked when the cold realization had sunk in.]
Don't worry, tēmī. I told you before, I won't leave you.
[Those who attempt to claim the World Shard of Silvergrove will have to go through her first. Of that, she has decided.]
ii. to ransom a world's soul
[On the golden beach below the cliffs of the village sits a woman, cross-legged with a yellow bottle in hand. It'll only be a matter of time before this dream dissolves, and she's accepted that. What she hasn't accepted is whether or not she'll accept the Shard that the Boy has been so insistent that she takes.
["Please, sister. You know it's the only way. It hurts so much...!"
[No. She won't do it. Not again.
[Maybe she's just being delusional, though.
[Once she's made sure that the Boy is somewhere safe, she wanders the town to see if everything is as she remembers. Shock of shocks... it is. Down to the same people saying the same thing at the same tavern, singing praises of the Boy to whom they owed their peace and prosperity. It's no wonder why he wants it all to end, or to at least keep those with some modicum of free will from the Shard-Bearers who have joined her this time.
[Even the liquor tastes exactly how she remembered it -- fake. But still, she drinks it, even when she finds herself in the company of another Shard-Bearer. She lifts the bottle at them, pretending to be drunker than she actually is with a lopsided grin and slurred speech:]
Banana brandy? I swear, it's just as disgusting as it probably sounds. Always hated this shit.
[Whoever it may be, they're probably looking for the Shards, just as those in the previous worlds as well. She would probably do best to distract them from the Boy as much as possible.]
Jade's World ▶ Silvergrove.
[Jade recognizes Silvergrove like an old friend when she arrives with the flash of a searing headache, followed by sounds of rushing waters, jungle birds, and humming insects. A beautiful dream back then... and a haunting one now, knowing what lay underneath the veneer of pleasant smiles and overly friendly gestures.]
"What, are you going to just let me in the front gates? Just like that?"
"Why not? Trust has to start somewhere."
"You'd really let a total stranger into your home and speak to your son?"
"Of course. Trust has to start somehere, doesn't it?"
[Even the Boy had eagerly welcomed her back to this vivid mirage, seemingly hale and whole once again, devoid of the bumps and swelling and the clumped leg since the very last moments she had seen him alive.
["Sister, you're back!"
[Though Jade knew his true face, had seen the Boy's deformities underneath the illusion when they meet again... she didn't wince when he throws his arms around her waist in a brotherly hug. After all, she had promised that she wouldn't hate and abandon him when she saw his true self, and that much remains true, even now.
[And Jade plays along, at least in the first few hours, knowing that this dream would never last. It hurts. This place had been like home to her for a time, or an idea of what could be a home where people treated each other with trust and kindness, when she had known mostly hatred and rejection her entire life. Even though she knew there was a sense of wrongness in the air the first time, even when she knew she couldn't stay when she had so wanted to... What point was there in fighting anymore, anyways? She had lost so much, hurt what few friends she had left. Wouldn't it have been better for her to disappear, where she could at least make one person happy? So what if it wasn't real?
[But it didn't take long before she saw it -- the lingering shadows following the Boy. By now had traversed enough worlds to know what that darkness means. More specifically, what they were reaching towards.
["Is something wrong, sister?" the Boy had asked when the cold realization had sunk in.]
Don't worry, tēmī. I told you before, I won't leave you.
[Those who attempt to claim the World Shard of Silvergrove will have to go through her first. Of that, she has decided.]
ii. to ransom a world's soul
["Please, sister. You know it's the only way. It hurts so much...!"
[No. She won't do it. Not again.
[Maybe she's just being delusional, though.
[Once she's made sure that the Boy is somewhere safe, she wanders the town to see if everything is as she remembers. Shock of shocks... it is. Down to the same people saying the same thing at the same tavern, singing praises of the Boy to whom they owed their peace and prosperity. It's no wonder why he wants it all to end, or to at least keep those with some modicum of free will from the Shard-Bearers who have joined her this time.
[Even the liquor tastes exactly how she remembered it -- fake. But still, she drinks it, even when she finds herself in the company of another Shard-Bearer. She lifts the bottle at them, pretending to be drunker than she actually is with a lopsided grin and slurred speech:]
Banana brandy? I swear, it's just as disgusting as it probably sounds. Always hated this shit.
[Whoever it may be, they're probably looking for the Shards, just as those in the previous worlds as well. She would probably do best to distract them from the Boy as much as possible.]