Probably. There's always so much happening all the time, even if they had to get through that hedgemaze first. [...this is likely not why clem called them here, but...
...but!!!!!]
Do you remember what it looks like? That big ballroom with all of the lights and the music playing. [a pause.] You and the yellow dress.
[ no. this is pretty much exactly why clem called them here. what, you think she wants to talk about how the graveyard knocked out virgo and let qi rong loose just because they were curious about a locked door? hard pass. ]
Of course. That was probably one of the best nights I've ever had.
[ so when she closes her eyes, it's easy to reshape the dream into a vague approximation of it. the details are a little... blurry. maybe some of them are even closer to the party today that she'd been watching from the graveyard, because like i said. a little jealous. ]
[love that at the end of the day clem is still very much a teenage girl. it's why they do nothing to actually discourage her. they can talk about the qi rong problem later. right now, this seems more important and as the dreamscape shifts it flickers into a vague approximation and they laugh to themselves.]
Perfect. [and they hold up a hand for her to take.] Pretty sure it was one of the best nights, too.
[valid. once she takes their hand though they will pull her closer to adjust their hands and slowly sweep her into a dance. why? why not.]
Sometimes I think those good times were the only reason we didn't fall apart. I don't mind the castle, but I kind of miss that pier. The boardwalk with all the rides and games? And that beach with all those caverns we explored. It was fun.
[ much better. she goes along with this easily. even if she doesn't have too much experience with dancing, it's just... swaying, mostly? so it's fine. ]
You're probably right. People need good stuff to make up for the rest or they'll lose it. Even if it's just a little bit of good.
And the castle was cool. Like a dream come true from when I was little. But... I liked the boardwalk more, too. The lights at night were so pretty.
[suits them just fine. they still aren't the best either.]
Yeah. It's kinda why I'm not discouraging Souji from doing what he's been doing to clean up the mansion. A little bit of good goes a long way. [and they turn. around the ballroom they go...]
They both had their good parts. But maybe the boardwalk could be next. [it is a dream suite? they can literally do whatever they want.] It's kinda weird. The castle and everything is the only place they have access to right now. No moon, no jungle...and we can't even get to the Leaders' castle like before. Every other week has led us to the places other games were held, but they had all of their locations.
Whenever you want. [they've conceded to letting her call the shots for the evening.]
I thought about that, too, but...maybe it's because there are people here who were there to begin with. Like your memories came, too, and made it more real.
... The field trip we got pulled into seemed like it was from Sieghart's memories, so we know at least some stuff is from us, even on the other side. But maybe those short trips are different.
Probably not, but I'll tell you anyway. The short version, at least. I don't think there was anything... Useful in there.
[ hmm. ]
But we had to drink blood and it made us stronger. And then we had to fight people we knew, from here and from home. And each other. We just kept dying and coming back.
Somehow that's even more gross. [stop don't drink that. i like that they're having this conversation while dancing. good for them.]
Of course it was Cloud. Like this place thinks it's all a joke. [a pause.] Lee doesn't surprise me either, and if it was Sieghart's memories then he was probably like the final boss or whatever?
[lup taught him enough to know how to break the fourth wall a little.]
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[ she had liked it when they had their party! so she gets it. she's also a little jealous but it's fine. ]
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...but!!!!!]
Do you remember what it looks like? That big ballroom with all of the lights and the music playing. [a pause.] You and the yellow dress.
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Of course. That was probably one of the best nights I've ever had.
[ so when she closes her eyes, it's easy to reshape the dream into a vague approximation of it. the details are a little... blurry. maybe some of them are even closer to the party today that she'd been watching from the graveyard, because like i said. a little jealous. ]
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Perfect. [and they hold up a hand for her to take.] Pretty sure it was one of the best nights, too.
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and of course, she takes their hand. ]
But there were a lot of them. [ good nights. ] Days, too. Even when things were stressful.
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Sometimes I think those good times were the only reason we didn't fall apart. I don't mind the castle, but I kind of miss that pier. The boardwalk with all the rides and games? And that beach with all those caverns we explored. It was fun.
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You're probably right. People need good stuff to make up for the rest or they'll lose it. Even if it's just a little bit of good.
And the castle was cool. Like a dream come true from when I was little. But... I liked the boardwalk more, too. The lights at night were so pretty.
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Yeah. It's kinda why I'm not discouraging Souji from doing what he's been doing to clean up the mansion. A little bit of good goes a long way. [and they turn. around the ballroom they go...]
They both had their good parts. But maybe the boardwalk could be next. [it is a dream suite? they can literally do whatever they want.] It's kinda weird. The castle and everything is the only place they have access to right now. No moon, no jungle...and we can't even get to the Leaders' castle like before. Every other week has led us to the places other games were held, but they had all of their locations.
[it sucks :(]
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After this dance.
[ and, hmm... ]
I wonder why. Isn't it weird that they can go there at all, since it wasn't a real place to begin with?
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I thought about that, too, but...maybe it's because there are people here who were there to begin with. Like your memories came, too, and made it more real.
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Then it's even weirder they can't go everywhere, right? There are still people on that side who should remember it.
[ she assumes if it's drawing from memories, it's drawing from people who are still alive. ]
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My memories don't count for that kind of stuff, I think. Or at least I kinda hope they don't.
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[ but who knows. ]
... The field trip we got pulled into seemed like it was from Sieghart's memories, so we know at least some stuff is from us, even on the other side. But maybe those short trips are different.
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Yeah? Still pretty weird. Do I wanna know what actually happened there?
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[ hmm. ]
But we had to drink blood and it made us stronger. And then we had to fight people we knew, from here and from home. And each other. We just kept dying and coming back.
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Like vampires? [what the fuck.] Who'd you fight? How'd you eventually get out?
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[ so it's... probably different??? ]
For me it was Cloud. Then I needed the others to kill me. Then Lee. Then Sieghart.
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Of course it was Cloud. Like this place thinks it's all a joke. [a pause.] Lee doesn't surprise me either, and if it was Sieghart's memories then he was probably like the final boss or whatever?
[lup taught him enough to know how to break the fourth wall a little.]
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also this is the first time i've really thought about it but lup is probably the only reason clementine understands the term 'final boss' too. ]
Yeah, basically. We, uh. Didn't win.
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How bad off? [how much did it suck not to win? what happened?]
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[ it's less traumatizing if it's fast, right ]
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[ a slow death would be worse you can't argue that ]
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