Wonderland: Day One

[wonderlandian]

The residents of Paradisa who ventured into the lobby on the 13th would find something new there; a mirror spanning an entire wall. Given recent happenings, who can blame them if they're cautious? Trouble is, this mirror seems to really want to bring people in, because you don't have to get too close before you're through the looking glass.

Once you've gone, you may find that you're not quite yourself.

[Directory:
Mirror|Queen's Courtyard|Queen's Castle|Tulgey Wood
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[Notes/Reminders: Type 1 and Type 2 characters will believe they are Wonderland natives. All characters, including those not entering Wonderland, will be able to use their journals; Wonderland "natives" will think it is a communication device exclusive to Wonderland, although communication between Paradisa and Wonderland through the journals is absolutely possible. You may NPC any number of Tulgey Wood creatures, except for the Jabberwocky.]

Comments

[scinlae]

[ Even with all that relief of his presence, she cannot bring herself to call him Merlin, not again. Not after everything. Not when the name holds such fondness for her, he will have to work if he wants her to use it again.

Tears wiped away she turns her head to look at him, some bitter part of her wanting to laugh at the irony still lodged in the back of her mind; the one she always overlooked, the most unassuming person within Camelot's walls had been the most dangerous one of them all.

Another urges her hand to lift, almost to reach for him before her finger curl into a fist and fall. ]

No.

[ The answer is simple, she has no idea. She is mad you fool. ]

Maybe. A forest perhaps, can you not see the trees?

[magicus]

[ Well, yes, he can see the trees. Though admittedly he was half expecting her to know something; she'd recognized Paradisa well enough. Either this wasn't it, or she was genuinely lost in more ways than one.

There's another hesitation, and then he lowers himself into a kneel to avoid standing over her. But there's still that precious few feet between them, and he's not remotely relaxed despite the gesture. ]

And? Have you seen nothing else here?

[ Because he's seen a great many things, but he's not about to start talking nonsense about painted roses and King Gwaine when she's already so fragile. ]

[scinlae]

Gwaine.

[ She watches him closely, following his every movement. Whether he likes it or not he has become something of an anchor, something to cling onto, to stabilize the ground beneath her feet. ]

I saw Gwaine, did you see him too? [ If he has perhaps she is not as mad as she thought, perhaps perhaps, perhaps Gwaine is the one who is mad. But then there was the others, Gwen and Uther and Lancelot, they weren't real, she knows they weren't, things passed through them when she threw them. ]

[magicus]

[ It's the first hint of some relief on his end, because yes, he'd seen him - and Gwaine hadn't had any idea who he was. There's a bit of levity to his tone, if only for the fact that maybe he hasn't gone completely mad himself.

Not that Morgana's the best alibi on that front, but he's in no place to doubt her at the moment. ]

I did. He was- [ Wearing pink? Strange? ] Different. [ Another beat, and this time he sounds an odd mix of annoyed and wounded. ] He threatened to chop off my head.

[scinlae]

[ Relief, it washes over her like a tidal wave mixed in with grief. He was real, he was and yet ─ ]

You speak as if it is the first time someone has threatened to have you killed. [ Haha, she'd laugh if she hadn't done as such recently. Or perhaps she will laugh regardless... well no, she won't she will give him a look instead, something familiar from an age long pass. ]

It has changed him, made him forget ─ Paradisa it does that sometimes, people lost return and for a while they act queerly. [ A beat. ] But then they remember, sometimes.

Merlin ─ [ She doesn't really think about it, the fact she is using his name, her mouth moves faster than her mind. ] ─ He will remember, he will remember everything, unless Paradis has taken his memories as payment.

[magicus]

[ Seeing her like this is a bizarre mixture of pity and a sharp, unfamiliar stab of hope. The familiarity, the use of his name without the lethal spite; hearing anything other than pain and hatred in her voice isn't something he thought he'd get another chance at.

As she's caught running through her thoughts out loud, he's convinced to drop his guard another degree, moves forward slightly and settles onto his knees while sitting back onto his heels. He's close enough to reach out and touch her, now, but it doesn't cross his mind to do so.

He should have reached out to her and comforted her a long time ago. He didn't until it was too late, and now that instinct's been routinely crushed by her rejections ever since. ]

He'll remember, Morgana. I'm sure of it. The castle couldn't be that cruel, could it? To take all of his memories? [ He knows it can take some, but all seems like far too high a price. ]

[scinlae]

[ Any other time she would likely spring away, hissing venom at him, but in this moment she doesn't. She keeps still, perhaps even leaning a little towards him.

It is sad, she thinks, how far their relationship has fallen, to the point that neither can bring it back again. If it weren't like this she would accept any comfort he was willing to give, she would have thrown propriety out the window for it.

It is truly sad this is what they've been brought to, a tense closeness that is not quite the same. ]

Oh, you lucky fool. [ She laughs this time, half tempted to reach out and cup his cheek, but her hand never leaves her knees. ] You have yet to experience how cruel it can be, it was cruel enough to take him from me to begin with.

[magicus]

[ His brow furrows at that, confusion marked by an edge of suspicion - it probably always will be when it's to do with her, now. She and Gwaine weren't close, to the say the least.

They might have been, of course, if they'd met before she'd changed. The rebellious streak that used to be so charming in her would've been a good match to his. But the way she's talking- ]

The two of you were close here? [ He should probably do more than just ask her questions, but the sad truth is she's got more of anchor in this place than he does. He's used to knowing things, usually much more than others; that's not the case here. He knows plenty that they don't, of course, but it's hardly anything of use. ]

[scinlae]

Does it surprise you? [ She smiles, lips curving into an almost bitter sort of smile. ] Does it surprise you that I'm still capable of feeling something other than anger and hate your poison left me with?

[ She thinks she should be more bitter and angry saying that, but she isn't ─ she sounds more tired than anything, disappointed even. ]

He met her before she became me, before the world became colored with vengeance and anger. [ When she was so rebellious and playful, when her smiles were filled with warmth rather than ice. ] Then she changed and she became me, but he did not abandoned me [ Like you did, goes unsaid. ] and he dragged her back out, he dragged her from underneath the mountain of ash she had been buried under.

So yes, we were close.