video;

[symmetrophile]

[The new curse has resulted in the Villa gaining one (1) formidable-looking resident Responsible Adult(TM), a nine-foot tall being shrouded in a full-length black cloak and cowl, his face obliterated by mask in the shape of a characature of a skull (as depicted).

Behold, Vatheon, the visage of your new Death Personified, the identity of whom is only revealed when he at last speaks, raising two hands out of his cloak to clap them, twice.]

All right, children! It's the beginning of a new week, and I trust you all know what that means--

[For those who know him, this is Death the Kid, all "grown up". By his recollection, he's been kicking around for hundreds of years, and Death City, the place of his birth, is a distant and fond memory.]

--It's time for our field trip to the coral!

[And it seems he's taken to caring for a Villa full of young children like a fish to water. The apple, it appears, didn't fall far from his father's proverbial tree.]

Line up single file in the foyer, please. If we're done early, we can all have hot chocolate in the Plaza. Don't be late, punctuality is a virtue second only to cleanliness!

[ooc; open to action threads, too, both in the villa and around the bubble.]

Comments

[spacecase]

...No, dumbass, I saw you yesterday. This is a curse. We have not been in Vatheon for hundreds of years.

[symmetrophile]

Curses can do many things.

Inventing centuries of memories is not feasibly one of them. That would be entirely unprecedented.

[This is going to be a very hard sell, Jade; he has a complete set of memories so realistic to fail to accept them is like admitting you're craz--

oh right]

[spacecase]

Um, except no? Curses can take away your powers and manipulate your mind and emotions, why the hell shouldn't they be able to fabricate memories?

It's called time shenanigans, fuckass.

[She's really stubborn, let's put it that way.]

[symmetrophile]

[WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HIM?!]

Jade, there are children here!

[Oh my god, not even Karkat has ever called him something like that, what is wrong with you?!]

[spacecase]

Don't derail the subject, you pasty skunk-striped douche! They're not children, this is a curse!

[symmetrophile]

Mind your language.

[Unstoppable force, meet immovable object.]

Is there a particular reason you so consistently take such pains to be so unpleasant?

[spacecase]

Ever since we met--which hasn't been CENTURIES, I'll remind you--you've been consistently a pain in the ass to get along with, just because I'm not going along with your stupid and insane little game doesn't mean I do it on purpose. No, you're just irritating, don't flatter yourself into thinking I care enough to hate you, I barely know you.

Even though I do know for sure right now that you're playing some stupid game of "I'm going to pretend I'm an idiot and not listen to you lalalala" thinking I'll just give up and roll along with it! Are you seriously going to tell me that you haven't noticed anything abnormal going on with today? At all?

[symmetrophile]

My memory is quite good, and I can't recall doing anything that warrants such disrespect.

Either we can discuss this civilly, or not at all.

[spacecase]

That depends, are we going to discuss this or are you just going to act like an overgrown kid and pretend there's no problem some more?

[Even though that's basically what he is at the moment, and her as well.]

[symmetrophile]

To start with, you aren't doing a very good job persuading me that everything I know to be true is a fabrication. Please, have a seat.

[That... sure is a wrought iron chair that wasn't there a moment ago. Is that a skull motif on the back? He does the same, but lifts off the mask as he does.

Those three bands of white in his hair have wrapped completely around his head, from what is visible beneath his cowl, like a trio of halos.]

There is much we apparently need to discuss, but your concerns about this curse are of a higher priority. I'm not the only one here who remembers the last few centuries as they happened, Jade. So what makes you so certain?

[spacecase]

The last few centuries?

[A sigh as she sits down, staring at him with total disbelief from across the way.]

That's not exactly a fair standard to set up. The last few centuries? How many beings in Vatheon can even live that long besides you? Besides, even if you have someone to corroborate your story, that doesn't change people that are either unaffected by the curse or didn't have their memories modified. You need to investigate further than just one other being that has your immortality privileges.

[Basically you are the shittiest detective ever, son.]

Take me, for example. I'm going to ballpark it and say I'm 26 right now, but I wasn't when I went to sleep yesterday, I was 16. My body changed, but my mind did not. And think about it, Kid, isn't it strange at all to you that there are suddenly so many child versions of our friends? Or was that also a common occurrence in the "last few centuries" for you?

[symmetrophile]

More than one, but before I go revealing their identities, I'd best have a chat with them first. It's only polite.

[But she's asked him to think about it in another way, so he gives it the old college try. She's right, though, Kid has been and always will be the worst detective.]

Theoretically, if what you say is true, doesn't that throw into question the reliability of even your own recollection?

But back to the situation at hand. I'm aware there's a curse afflicting our population, even the bubble itself has taken on the appearance it had all those years ago. But what kind of curse this is, we can only speculate.

[spacecase]

The bubble has not changed, it's the same as it was yesterday, before this curse took effect. I will say that the only person that's changed right now is you, you were definitely not nine feet tall yesterday, nor had you made it known at all that those stripes in your hair had the ability to connect.

[symmetrophile]

By your perspective, it is so.

[Buuuut...]

By mine, it would seem a few of us were potentially transported into the past, and some of us, to our future starting at a younger age. This is just as likely as your claim that an extensive amount of shared memories were somehow fabricated.

The only part that confuses me is the fact that you and Karkat have grown, but don't recall anything. Are you sure your memories weren't the ones tampered with? Perhaps there's something our captors don't want anyone knowing?

[spacecase]

Karkat and...there was another person...give me a moment--

[Ah, now she's got it.]

Ryuuji! Uh--I mean Bon, he was de-aged yet his memories of Vatheon and being a teenager have stayed intact. That's three of us that still remember, now we just need to find someone that hasn't been touched by the curse at all, right? Surely then my perspective will be clearer to you?

[symmetrophile]

"De-aged"..?

[There's a momentary squint.]

You mean he became younger?

[Her perspective is already becoming clear, the problem is--well, suspending his own belief in his experiences.]

I hope you understand, the argument that our experiences for the last few centuries are artificial is hard to swallow. But I can't ignore what you've said, either...

[spacecase]

...I can understand, it's just. Wrong, that's all. I need to do what I can to help keep order and calm.

1/3

[symmetrophile]

[There's a small turn downwards of the corners of his mouth, thoughtfully; when he spoke of persuasion he only meant to insist on more civil language.

But he's only really persuaded when he learns her motivation is about keeping order.]

2/3

[symmetrophile]

[But everything?

For all this time? None of it, real?]

3/3

[symmetrophile]

[His poker face could mean a few things: either he doesn't believe her, he has the emotional content of a box of Gushers, or that's just what he looks like when his whole world has been a lie.]

Well.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You've certainly made a compelling argument.

[spacecase]

...Will you be...okay?

[It's not like she isn't aware that he has feelings (sort of).]

I mean, it's not like it isn't great for me to be an adult either...I'm barely certain I'll live past sixteen in my own world.

[symmetrophile]

[There's another squint, this one more scrutiny than speculation; she was spouting profanely at him a few moments ago, and now concern?

Why so contradictory.]

What makes you say that? Don't you have faith in the ability of you and your friends?

[It's only saving ALL THE UNIVERSES, gosh.]

[spacecase]

[Because she's a human being, god tier or not, they're often contradictory by nature.]

I've had two years to think over how my friends and I are going to be fighting against a symbol of death itself. God, not just a symbol, a figure of death in troll culture. We're not just protecting Earth with this, we're protecting the entire universe--more universes than that, even, since the universe I bred failed to flourish properly. So many odds are constantly stacked against us from beginning to end, and I have more responsibility than anyone is aware, being a Hero of Space. I promised the denizen of my quest planet that I'd protect all the planets--keep them close to me and safe, but--

[She then pulls up her sylladex, where a line of blank cards is shown.]

They're not with me in Vatheon. My duties were taken from me that easily, it's hard to keep faith in myself and my own ability.

[symmetrophile]

Even with all the time I've spent-- [He pauses, giving his head a minute shake. He cedes:]

I believe I've spent here, there are certain things I've accepted as fact. Among them, that I will make it to my friends in time.

[For what, he doesn't elaborate on.]

Maybe I've only been comforting myself, but you could either spend the rest of your time here worrying about what waits for you, or you can have faith that you'll have everything you need when you get there.

[spacecase]

[You're telling her to...not be hard on herself?]

I expect a lot from myself, that's all. I suppose that's what happens when you grow up alone.

...Not that I'm trying to make you see it from my perspective again, it's just how it is.