video; un: shiro

[shiro2hero]

[The video clicks on to show Shiro, sitting at a dining table - in the Mouse House, for anyone who's been there before. He looks... different. Hollowed-out. More exhausted than usual, which is saying something, for him. But the biggest difference? His greying hair has gone completely white. All of it.]

[His hands are curled around a mug, with the omni propped up on something else.]

Hey, feels like long time, no see.

[The smile he goes for falls flat. He reaches down with his left hand, the real hand, to ruffle the fur of his Omen, the lion with her head in his lap.]

First of all... I'm sorry for what happened, recently. [The Beasthood Incident.] I want to thank the people who helped me out. You know who you are, and - I'd rather not get into it more than that, please.

That aside - I've really noticed there aren't a lot of us left from the Dream. From Deerington. That's no one's fault. It's just a little alarming to realize. Maybe it's better forgotten - I don't know. But, I'm offering what I have to anyone who wants to learn.

Either what Deerington was, what happened there, who was involved. Anything I still have.

I don't think it should be forgotten. Not after what was done to get us here. After what people went through to make it possible to wake up here. And who we lost in the process.

[He takes a deep breath, and lifts up the coffee mug for a drink. You know, to get himself centered and everything.]

[Except... the mug stopped steaming halfway through his speech. Something heavy slides around inside instead, and impacts Shiro's face with an audible THUD. His head snaps back, which allows the object to go plummeting down to the tabletop.]

[It's a solid brick of frozen coffee.]

[It isn't even melting in the summer weather. Just sitting there. Mocking him. Another slow, deep breath, to keep his eye from twitching.]

... also, if any coldbloods out there want to... help with this... blood ability mess? I'm... listening.

Comments

[shiro2hero]

[He's still reaching out to try and check Keith's hand over. Just to make sure. Just because you can make fire doesn't mean you're fireproof.]

And I can't freeze anything at all... Guess we're all having some problems right now.

[Which is super great.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith didn't immediately relinquish his hand for examination, instead rubbing at it with his other hand as he stared at the bowl of melted coffee that was in fact now steaming again, at least. So, goal accomplished? But, he did eventually realize Shiro was trying to look, and he did finally let him.

Just ignore how he'd been biting his nails again lately...

But there didn't seem to be any damage, at least.]

I guess so... [He frowned, concerned now about handling anything that might be sensitive to what they were doing... and well, irreplaceable...]

[shiro2hero]

[It's fine - nail biting is the least of their worries right now. As long as there's no burns, no injuries, he's not going to question the nails. Frankly, that's a bit of a relief.]

[He sighs, and lets Keith's hand drop.]

I guess I could read them out loud. So far my... problems... are limited to coffee.

[tempredmental]

[Is it fine when said nail biting has been to prevent the nails from growing into claws? He was going to have to get himself some clippers or something...]

I mean... it only happened when I tried to use it, so... maybe... it'll be okay?

[Honestly, Keith did better when he could see the information. Having someone read it to him might not register as well. He was definitely a more visual learner.]

[shiro2hero]

Maybe... actually! Hang on a second. You've got your omni, right?

[He thinks he still has the files digitally. So let him open his own device, and start transferring them over.]

This way, if anything goes wrong... the device can probably handle it. I mean, they've handled everything else.

[tempredmental]

Hm? [Keith nodded, pulling out said device. He'd learned pretty quick not to be without that if he could help it. He activated his, and then accepted the transfer.] This can work.

I can at least go through these then if you want to handle the paper ones.

[shiro2hero]

Probably best for now. Or... we could both go over the digital ones, in case my hands decide to make more popsicles.

[That's an attempted joke. He's very funny. And then exhales, leaning back slightly in the chair.]

Peter starts at the top, runs through the history, and the major players. Julia, Cynthia... Mother Superior. [His tone is like he'd just mentioned Slav or something.] Want to start there?

[tempredmental]

[Keith gave Shiro something of a half smile, huffing a small chuckle through his nose. Then he definitely noticed that tone shift in regards to Mother Superior. His eyebrows lifted in curiosity, and he nodded.]

Yeah... that sounds good.

[shiro2hero]

All right. So...

[Some of this is easy enough to remember. So he stays leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.]

It started with Julia Sodder's grandmother. And Mother Superior. Basically, they came to a new country to make a god. Cynthia, Julia's mother, was only born so they could make Julia - make her their god. Cynthia is powerful in her own right, but nothing like Julia... was.

[Since Cynthia is the Moon Presence now and all.]

But they never taught Julia how to control her power. Her abilities. They just let her go and figure it out on her own, and then blamed her when things went wrong. She had this incredible ability to create things out of nothing, pull creatures and people from other worlds, distort reality... and no one ever thought "hey, we should teach her how to handle that."

[tempredmental]

[Keith followed along in the notes with what Shiro was saying.]

Okay... And that's how the dream started? The nightmare?

[shiro2hero]

The Dream came first. For a while, it was... weird. But things were manageable. From what Peter and others figured out, Julia's power eventually got too much for anyone to handle. They tried to -

[He pauses, his jaw working. Shoulders go tense before he breathes deeply, steadying himself.]

- Mother Superior and others tried to mitigate the problems she was causing, by locking her in a lab. Running tests, experiments on her, and that created the Dream.

[Gee, is it any wonder Shiro feels for Julia so much?]

The first October we were there, the Nightmare happened. Mother Superior came over the network and did - something to Julia. Tortured her. And turned everything into a Nightmare.

[tempredmental]

[Yup. Keith immediately caught on to the change in Shiro's demeanor. His brow furrowed with concern, eyes drifting just for a moment to that right arm, before he looked back at his omni. He understood, alright.]

October... that's... coming up soon. [He frowned.] But... why would she torture her? Did she think that would make her stop?

[shiro2hero]

Yeah, it is. But I don't think it applies here. Last October was... calm. There wasn't any kind of nightmare like we were expecting. Not sure if it was a fluke or if we can really relax about October yet.

[Then, on to Sodder, on to Superior... He looks at his device. Then shuts it off.]

Mother Superior hates us. She hates all Sleepers, and wanted nothing more than to destroy us. She thought setting the Nightmare on us would accomplish that.

And... she's here. She followed us like Cynthia did. But in another form.

[tempredmental]

Here? [Keith frowned.] Are the Pthumerians trapped here like us? Or is... this like... their world?

[shiro2hero]

Here.

[It can't be good, if you asked him.]

I'm not sure. When the dream was falling apart, Cynthia attacked Mother Superior for our sakes. And Cynthia said Mother Superior would be 'reborn'... The way she said it made it sound more like a punishment.

But if Cynthia is here too, as the Moon Presence... then I don't know. All I do know is that we don't have anything to fear from her. As far as Pthumerians go, she's benevolent. Superior on the other hand...

She goes by "Mother Mercy" now, we're pretty sure. But I doubt she actually means that name.

[tempredmental]

Wait... she does? [Keith frowned.] How do you guys know? How sure is everyone that's her?

[Because... well...]

She's... she's my patron.

[shiro2hero]

Mako and Ruby confirmed it. Research and something that happened during one of the monthly ... changes. Where people were punishing themselves in the name of "Mother Mercy". We're sure of it...

[He trails off.]

[And stares. All the color just drains away - you know, if he had any color to his face at all.]

You're... you're kidding.

[tempredmental]

[Keith shook his head.]

October is her month, right?

[shiro2hero]

No... no, it's...

[Hang on let him dive for his papers. And flip through.]

Cloverfield. You're sure it's her? Ruby's day is in October, hers is Cloverfield.

[tempredmental]

[Keith frowned.]

Someone told me... [He leaned his chin on his hand for a moment.] Could there be two patrons? What's Ruby's day?

[shiro2hero]

Who told you?

[That could be important - ]

I think it might be around her birthday? Or on it. I know mine is... Hers is Halloween.

[tempredmental]

One of the locals. They asked my birthday. I'd been just asking about patrons, and they said that most people had patrons based on their birthdays... not all, but most.

[Keith considered that.]

I mean, Halloween isn't that far off from my birthday... and they're both odd numbers, so it's not like an every other day thing. Maybe it's based on which week? And they alternate?

But the person seemed really insistent that Mother Mercy was the whole month. They didn't mention Cloverfield.

[shiro2hero]

I think we need to ask the others. Like us, not the locals.

[That will probably help. That will likely give them better information.]

I've only ever heard Cloverfield being the patron of October. Ever since I got here.

[tempredmental]

You think the locals could be wrong?

[Keith looked confused by that. Why couldn't they trust them to know? They were the natives here, right?]

[shiro2hero]

Maybe. I don't know - maybe they were lied to.

[Or maybe the locals were just flat-out lying themselves.]

But if she really is trying to take the month from Cloverfield, that's not good. From what I know, Cloverfield isn't evil, or good. It just kind of ... exists.

Superior, or Mercy, is malevolent.