paradisa | fifty-fourth labyrinth

[Felix sits on the patio of his favorite cafe in town, thoughfully tapping a caiso against the tabletop, his journal nearby.

It had taken a few days for Felix to sort through everything that had happened the week previous. He'd never really had any proper family - at least none that he grew up with. It had been so strange to have a childhood at all, that wasn't filled with pain and death. Not that what he had believed to be true was entirely blemish-free.

Even more strange, like a niggling ache, was the absolute absence of Mildmay in his memories, as if his real brother were too much trouble for the castle to work in. And the ones he'd been given instead...

He liked Howl and Clow - was still curious to know about them and their magic - but he couldn't be sure what they remembered or how they'd react, and while everything he'd recalled had been false, it had been close enough to the truth in places to make him worry. So...damage control...]

[filter]

Well, that wasn't exactly how I'd envisioned meeting either of you in person.

How about we set aside that little fabrication and try this again? I'd like it you both came to meet me for lunch in town. On me. I think we have a lot to talk about.

[/filter]

.....

I believe I have greater sympathy for those of you who have been forced to live other lives in other worlds. Is anyone else having difficulty keeping it all straight in your mind? Do you think it will fade away at some point, like a dream?

((ooc: open for town action too!))

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It was certainly and interesting demonstration of just what this castle can do... although not one I would have chosen, personally.

Lunch sounds like a good idea. You're right... there's a lot we should discuss.

Yes, I think that would probably be... for the best. Where should I meet you two?

Good. I'm at a cafe in town...[He writes directions here]

All right. I should be able to manage that.

[Except for the bit where he'll probably be late. Because he always is.]

Myself as well.

[Clow will be perfectly on time. He's good at that]

[Felix will wait since...well, he doesn't have much else to do in the meantime. Nor he is particularly surprised by who arrives first, considering his alarming insight into their characters]

[Clow has been known to mix things up for the sole purpose of surprising people - but not this. Too important. Some of the facts of that little adventure had been very much true to his own life, and others... had not. The redhead he sees siting and waiting as he approaches the cafe would fall into that category of 'not'. He approaches the table with a small, carefully polite smile]

Felix?

[The name comes automatically, and only a second later does it register as odd coming off his tongue. In 'reality', they've barely met, and yet he's using the other man's given name already]

[Felix sits up as the other man approaches, nodding in acknowledgement. He smiles - a milder version his usual charmer - and gestures across the table]

Please have a seat.

[Clow does so, though he's silent for a moment, trying to think how, exactly, to open this can of worms. Finally - ]

...As you said, that was... perhaps not how I would have liked to have met.

No...[He stares down at the table a moment] We were presented with a lie. Regrettably, it's something we should expect from time to time, though I never thought what the castle would cause me to forgot was, well, everything. I can't even begin to know what you lost in the exchange - not least of which was your magical talents.

Mmm.

Though - there could be something said for what I gained, too. I never had siblings on my father's side of the family. Or brothers, on either.

Regretably, the castle decided to keep my mother and half-sisters more or less intact.

[He sounds like he's joking about that last bit. Probably]

[ Fade at some point.... she can only hope. She wanted things to go back to normal between her and Natsu. She... doesn't touch the comment about keeping it straight in her mind because she -did- have trouble at first. Fortunately the power of denial was helping. ]

Probably... at least I hope so. [ It wasn't fading fast enough for her liking. ]

It was all fake - it might as well have been a dream anyway.

But a very vivid one. And dreams can be very powerful things.

[Joke or not, Felix laughs]

We can't have everything.

True. If it weren't for a dream, ... of sorts, I wouldn't have been motivated to join Fairy Tail. But this - what the castle is responsible for. It's a little different. [ It's a little cruel, is what it is. ]

Do you want it to fade away? Or do you want to remember everything?

[And Howl has managed to finally get himself into town and locate the cafe. He might have been off preening, first. Just maybe.]

Ah, here we are. Hello to you both.

[It was sort of weird, having memories of the two men which he knew for certain had never happened. That, added to the niggling sense that he'd also forgotten something important had him hiding behind his flashy facade even more than usual.]

Not if I was the only one to forget. [The idea of people remembering things about him when he didn't was distinctly uncomfortable]

...What is 'Fairy Tail'?

Yeah, I agree there. [ Because if it were just Natsu - well he brushed it off like it meant nothing and... it probably did mean nothing to him anyway. But for Lucy to remember and Natsu not to... ]

Eh? Oh! Fairy Tail is the Guild I belong to back home, in Fiore.

[Clow gives Howl a slightly brighter smile than he gave Felix. Mostly because he's already met you before]

Hello. Did you ever manage to find your fire demon?

[He's a little bothered by the show of favor, but it doesn't show on his face]

Fire demon? Why does this sound like a story I am missing out on?

[He flops into a chair with an over-dramatic sigh and a dismissive wave of his hand. Trust Clow to prod him over that right off the bat.]

No sign. I think he must be back home.

[He tips his head towards Felix with a look of chagrin.]

Calcifer is my... familiar, I suppose you could say. Clow here caught me looking for him in the kitchen, to no avail.

[Yes, Howl, he did. Clow turns back to Felix, still looking rather more obnoxiously cheerful]

He was checking all of ovens down there for him.

[He gets a little more somber, though - as fun as teasing Howl is, there are other things to be done]

We didn't come here to talk about that, though.

[Felix held Howl's gaze for a few moments, clearly holding back was sure to be a barrage of questions.]

You're right. We didn't.

[He clasped his hands on the table]

What I think we should do is...reconcile our false mutual pasts with who we really are. Clear up the...misconceptions those memories might have given us, and hopefully decide how exactly we're to treat each other after having been brothers.

An interesting name for a guild. What is it for?

[Howl straightened in his chair a little and smiled, as if that suggestion weren't the least bit problematic to him.]

Of course. Although on my end, I can't say there's much to tell. I don't have any real brothers, and I'm certainly not trying to write any books.

[And he'd consider it a great success if he could get out of all this without further elaboration in his end.]

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