idolpro | Amaranth: A Dream

Entry tags:

!ideal world

Amaranth: A Dream

Once, there was a maiden...

...whose battles called her far from home.
She slew the thing she feared most, and conquered the land that feared her.
As she fought, far away, she knew her children needed guidance.
She knew they faced tyrants.
She knew they faced fear.
In her homeland, things were broken.
So, she held up her hand before the sun, and cast a shadow on the world, and drowned the troubles of her home in darkness.

"Survival's a long reach," she said.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Uh... early for what?

[ a laugh ]

Surely you didn't escape without Hanae inviting you to lunch. She's very excited to get to be in charge of it today.

[ flusters a bit ]

Well-- I mean, yeah... I told her I'd come back.

I uh, definitely didn't get enough for more than just you, though. Sorry.

[ At that, she opens the box, laughs again, and leans in, conspiratorial. ]

In that case, I'll just have to eat them all right away.
—Or, at least try to keep this hidden until Cardinal and Shiho are both home.

[ smiles a little, awkwardly. ]

Well-- they're yours, so handle 'em however you want.

Thank you, truly.
So... shall we join everyone else, or do you want to enjoy the midday warmth a little longer?

I admit, I like to come out here—even when there's hardly any work to be done.
It's peaceful, you know... to know that I've truly found my home.

[ Looking out over the view again, down at her modest yet beautiful house, your vision blurs:
Outside the house, two scenes are layered over one another. In one, you see what you did before—Shiho, Aradia, and the three girls headed inside; the cherry tree; the border of the fields. In the other, there is LiliS's alder and birch-encircled garden, where you can make out Amaranth's also-children, past and present, as they appear and disappear among the flowers. ]

[ she stares at that for a long moment, confused, but.

her shoulders sag a little. ]

... yeah? Well... m'happy for you.

[ Amaranth turns to look out over that same view. ]

Finally... I don't have to choose.

[ Ah.

she hesitates, before glancing at Amaranth-- then away again, expression tight.

she doesn't have the heart to fight this. ]

[ She remains watching the view for another minute, smile soft with something like relief.

Then she turns back to you. ]

....Thank you. For understanding.

[ Startles, looking back at her again. ]

What, you know what's going on here?

[ ...

... ] This world is beautiful, isn't it.

...

Are you happy?

[ She considers this, smile still soft; turns to look once more at that overlapping set of scenes, as if checking. ]

Everyone I protect is here, safe and loved. Everyone I would fight alongside as well, all of us united in purpose.

Were we not here together, you and I, we would be on the battlefield. This land is worth fighting for, and so we fight for it, matching our beliefs with our actions. And there, I do not fail you.

[ she-- scowls, hurt. ]

... yeah, if only.

Just wake up already and make it better for real.

Wake up?

I am awake, finally. Isn't it a relief to finally know that none of it was real? That impossible city, full of impossible machines, magic that bent space and time? No death to be found except through spiritual annihilation, but endless pain. And somehow, even if we told no one, it always knew exactly what inner hurts we hid, and how to torture us with them?

[ a touch softer ] It all felt so real...

But that's the logic of nightmares, Requiem.
...Even though they can haunt us.

If it's a nightmare we shared, then I want to talk about it. I don't want our dream of that world to keep us from happiness in this one.

This land has strange magic too, but it's alright: if you think about it, and compare them, it's obvious which one is real.

[ and-- it snaps, something in her that she definitely, definitely didn't want to show. if amaranth was happy she deserved to stay happy but this--

fur rapidly covers her arms and her teeth grow into wicked fangs. her form not growing taller but her arms and hands-- paws, claws-- growing thickly muscular. she swiftly lunges, to try to wrap a paw around Amaranth's neck and pin her down-- hopefully she can at least catch her off guard enough for that, and force her to listen: ]

No! I know what's real! I was willing to let you-- stay, and be happy, and do whatever you want, but you're just going to pretend that was all a dream? That I'm a dream?! You're just gonna say all that, and stay here and pretend to be happy while I have to go back to that nightmare, by myself?! That's bulldonk! I'm not even from here! I'm from Ooo! I'm Marceline the Vampire Queen! I've lived for a thousand years, I watched war destroy everything I love and everything I had, and you think it's as simple as just-- saying it doesn't exist anymore? You think this--

[ she gestures widely to the fields with her other paw, ]

-- is so easily in reach for you, or any of us?! You know this ain't real! Why ELSE would you care about failing me?!

[ Just moments before, Shrike had interrupted Amaranth to show her something, and now the rice around you is withering.

She's already half-distracted; not a chance she's prepared to dodge.

And intuitively, you know—
On your forehead, there is now a solid circle of glowing silver. ]

[ ...Not a chance she's prepared to dodge, and you hit her full-force.
Amaranth is thrown to the ground, into the now-wilting rice and drying dirt, your claws pinning her down by the throat. Her reaction is swift, trying to shift her hips to throw you off— ]

I know that war—

[ —when her eyes go to your forehead, and that glowing silver circle. And her words die in her throat.

She is crying. ]

[ —oh

she... puts the seed back in her pocket, for now, and sort of... crouches down. ]

Would you forget about how we learned of the Chosen of Luna? The lessons we have wrenched from the maw of tragedy together?

You never let me hide, Amaranth.

[ ... oh

awkwardly-- no, more like ashamed-- releasing her grip and pulling back a bit, claws retracting entirely. she didn't think she was gonna cry ]

[ All of you see something together:

The earth aspect, weakened by his wounds, is sent flying by the Anathema’s next blow, leaving the fan-wielding water aspect dangerously open. You let out a shout that seems to echo with the cries of an army, though, and the beast hesitates, seemingly held in place by sudden awe or fear. The pause is just long enough: the next moment, three leafy arrows sprout from the Anathema’s left eye, each piercing deeper than the last.

As the monster is defeated, its form recedes back to that of a man—barely more than a youth—with claws like a cat's, arrows still lodged in his eye. You sigh heavily, wipe the blood and sweat from your brow, and remind yourself that this was the better outcome by far than seeing innocent mortals devoured. The dead man’s crimson hair suggests that he hails from somewhere in the southern deserts: he has died so very far from home.

Amaranth's expression is pained, her teeth gritted: no, she hasn't forgotten. ]

....Of course. [ Her voice is quiet. ] Creation has never been this just.

I'm sorry.

...it really hasn't. Not at all, nor kind to those who sought it. No matter how much we wish it.

Amaranth: A Dream

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