stellafortunalogs | Memshare/March Catch-All!

[ It's a strange feeling, to be in the shoes of another. Even stranger still to be able to feel someone else's emotions. It's not something he'd thought he would be able to experience.

His attention was focused throughout, however.

Right all the way to the glow of that girl. He'll mutter: ]

...How?

[ It's certainly a scene unfamiliar to him, despite the way it felt like he should know these people. It may have been ironic that the idea of someone fading away wasn't unknown to him for personal reasons. ]

[Because it was all a lie - that's the thought that explains it all, but yet is unhelpfully vague.

The group of kids are shocked and upset when they realize what's going on. Up close, it's easier to make out. The girl was becoming transparent. The boy holding onto her can be seen through her once solid body. Denial, grief, pain, shock- they're all emotions everyone is running through everyone. These emotions are more muted coming from Jun, but even he's not entirely unaffected.

The only one not affected? Was Shiori herself. She's smiling, there was a resigned sense of peace to her as she spoke to each person she knew, thanking them for being her friend or asking them to look after Kou. Each person responds with their own farewell, as the boy holding her tries to tell them to stop with growing desperation. When she reaches Jun, there's a pain in his chest as he thanks her in return.]

Thank you ... for being a good friend to me, as well.

[Kou yells at them to stop, but Shiori just smiles and says something to him as she uses the last of her strength to touch his cheek. She then vanishes completely in sparkling light. With her gone, the surrounding begins to fade as well...except for Ledah, it'll fade back to Mondstadt.

Jun should be somewhere nearby, if he wishes to find him.]

[ Ledah still paid rather close to the memory playing out. Then again, there wasn't anything else to.

Until, of course, it ended.

Given everything, he was going to track down Jun. Or try to. He had no idea if something had happened to the other male in the midst of all this. There weren't any immediate signs that a fight had occurred as far as he could tell, but he kept his eyes peeled.

Where would he find the other? ]

[Jun can be found not far outside the city. He doesn't seem aware of what Ledah just witness. Rather, he's sitting on a patch of grass, idly practicing his geo manipulation as he changes the shape of a pile of stones in front of him without touching them.

He does pick up on Ledah's approach, pausing his practice to look at him]

Ledah?

[Odd, this guy doesn't usually usually approach him unless there was a mission. And he didn't think he had a commission today. ]

Yes.

[ Beat. Then he realized that him asking his name wasn't just for the sake of it. Listen, it was strange trying to sort out what had just happened, even if the scene of someone dispersing wasn't an unfamiliar one. It was being a foreign witness to it, and feeling someone else's thoughts and emotions. ]

Something abnormal happened, and I thought it meant some trouble had come over you. But, you're here, practicing your ability, as if everything was fine.

[ ... ]

I don't understand it. I've never been able to see someone else's memories before.

[Jun will hear him out, piecing together what Ledah was getting at. So he saw a memory of Jun's and...didn't realize it was a memory and came to find him to make sure he's alright.

It's a little unsettling to think one of his memories is just lying out there for people to find...but it's not like he can do anything about it, and it was sweet that Ledah came to find him]

Ah, I think I understand. That's been happening recently, I've seen a few people's memories. Haven't figured out why yet.

But I'm alright, I've just been here. [Practicing rock magic] Did you see something bad...?

[Because boy. boy he knows there's a lot of bad things that could be seen. ]

[ At the very least it didn't seem to be a unique circumstance. Not that it made it anymore comforting, if only because that likely meant that his were out for others to view.

Even if he were the type of person who wasn't bothered by what others thought of him, he liked to have his own privacy. ]

I did.

It looked like one of your friends had been fading away. Though, I hadn't understood the reason for that either.

[ There were thoughts and feelings that had sort of given some vague hints regarding the situation, but it wasn't enough. He spoke the words in a statement, though it was also a question, if Jun felt like answering that. Given that it was private, it wasn't something he'd push. ]

[A friend fading away...there was only one memory that could be. The look of recognition to what Ledah is talking is instant on Jun's face. Yeah. No more clarification is needed]

Oh, that one...

[He knew the reason, and it wasn't strictly confidential like so many of his memories. But not a happy one, for sure.]

The reason's...complicated. I don't know if you want to hear a long story.

[But it doesn't seem like he's opposed to talking about it. It had been sorted out, after all. ]

[ There's a long pause, in which he had considered asking or just leaving it as is. It was honestly none of his business in the first place.

It's only time where he felt at a crossroads. Where the decision he made wasn't immediate. But finally, he had his answer. ]

We have time. If it's not an interruption to any duties you plan to carry our or a bother, it won't trouble me listening to it.

[There is a long pause as he considers. Jun is a private person, but he doesn't want to discourage Ledah's curiosity either. And Shiori...she'd probably be alright with her story being told if it could help another. ]

...Fine. That mission is over, so I don't mind sharing the details.

[He gestures for Ledah to sit, because he's not kidding this is a long story. Fortunately, all things considered, Jun wasn't a bad storyteller.]

Ten years ago, there was a catastrophe in my world. A mythical strength Grim Greed - a demon, in other words - appeared in the city of Tokyo. Its power was so immense that it dragged the city and surrounding areas into the Eclipse -- into a Hellish realm. Countless Greed ran through the streets and killed anyone they could find, and buildings were destroyed by the onslaught. By the time the situation was resolved, over 20,000 people were confirmed dead with another 8,000 never found.

Among the causalities was a little girl who lived in the town of Morimyia, outside of Tokyo. She was crushed by debris in front of her best friend, a little boy. Her best friend panicked, and in her dying moments she prayed what happened was a lie so he wouldn't be upset.

Sadly it wasn't a god that heard her prayer, but rather the Grim Greed responsible for everything. At that same moment, the Grim Greed was in a losing battle against the combined forces of the Underground factions. It used its dying strength to grant her prayer, fusing with her so she could return to life.

Except, it was a lie.

Greeds are not gods, you see, they don't have the power to resurrect the dead. So instead, it created a lie that she hadn't actually die. As long as you were within the boundaries of Morimiya, you would believe that Kurashiki Shiori was alive and well. This false version of Shiori grew up alongside her friends, as if her death never happened. As far as anyone could tell, she was a normal and happy girl.

Unfortunately...no lie can last forever.

[It's clear he's not done. He wasn't kidding about this being a long story]

...

[ Jun really wasn't, but Ledah hadn't been sure what to expect, really. So naturally he couldn't have anticipated any of...that.

His outward reaction was hardly much of one regardless; it was just the way he was. But still, he had to wonder:

Was it more cruel for the girl to live as a "lie" then to have died immediately? Especially since she was bound to have faded away once the creature had been eliminated. He inferred that was what seemed to have happened; it didn't seem like a good thing. Demons never were.

That's the belief he held. ]

I assume you mean that the creature met its end, then?

[He wasn't surprised by Ledah's stony expression. Seal Knights were exactly the most expressive of people, so he's used to it. So he'll just continue with his tale. ]

Yes, but it wasn't immediate.

Remember how I said you only believed the lie "as long as you were within the boundaries of Morimiya"? For the rest of the world, Shiori had died on the day of the disaster. Perhaps this would've been fine in another time period, but communication technology was advancing quickly. People could now easily talk to people from anywhere in the world, or read information that came from other places. The Greed could control anything that was within Morimiya, but there was little it could do about the truths that came from outside the city boundaries.

Eventually, this dissonance began to strain on the Grim Greed. The strain caused a number of anomalies to occur within the city. And eventually, it got to be too much, so in a last ditch effort to maintain the lie... the Grim Greed concocted a plan to drag the whole world into the Eclipse, starting with Morimiya, so it could have enough power to maintain the lie everywhere.

It wouldn't work out that way, of course. You see, all the anomalies had attracted the attention of those tasked with dealing with Greed, and they'd learned a lot in the ten years since the disaster. So when the time came to enact it's plan, there were many ready to resist it. Ultimately, the Grim Greed was defeated.

But as a consequence...Shiori ceased to be. Not just her physical presence, but any evidence she ever existed past the day of the disaster. Even people's memories of her faded. Besides a small handful of us, no one had any recollection of the happy girl that'd been in their lives all those years.

[ ...Then it seemed that there were more consequences to her fading away than had initially appeared. But, it was to be expected he wouldn't have known the full extent at the time (which was only a few minutes ago or so.)

It was, undeniably, far different than when he had passed. The thought of being forgotten in of itself felt a little troubling. He didn't care, for example, if other people here hardly too notice of his existence or forgot him, but should Ein's memory of himself be erased.

Well, it's nothing he should worry about. It's this friend of Jun's that had this terrible fate bestowed upon her...and his expression turned a little scrutinizing. There were hazy questions and pondering about Jun and other subjects coming and going. But he will say little of most of them. ]

Getting used to others who should know of her presence now having no idea sounds as if it would still be a large adjustment.

[ Even besides her no longer being among their group, but that was an obvious fact to him that he didn't even need to say in the first place. ]

But, how was it that you and a few others were able to remember where others weren't?

Mm....

[he makes a sound of morose agreement to the first part. Jun was used to people having lapse in their memory when it involved his work, but having people not remember one of his dearest friends? It was jarring even for him. ]

It's because in my world, most humans don't have enough spirit power to perceive the supernatural properly. A gateway to the Eclipse could appear in the middle of the street, and most people wouldn't notice it. And if they're confronted directly with the supernatural, they'll usually forget once it's over, or remember it as something more mundane. If you ask most people about that disaster in Tokyo, for instance, they'll likely say it was just a bad earthquake.

Some like myself do have enough spirit power to retain our memories of the supernatural. But it's a rather rare ability, statistically speaking.

[ There's a moment where Ledah listened to every single word Jun has said.

It was always interesting to hear how different things could work in other worlds, and then there was the fact that the other had told him something rather significant. In the sense of that elaboration, though as far as he cold tell, Jun held himself well.

He concluded that he must have had time to have...gotten over what had occurred, to put it simply. ]

I believe I can understand.

[ ... ]

...I'll also keep in mind the importance of what you have said here today.

[ Ledah didn't see a point in saying 'thank you' for that, but he did believe he should acknowledge that some, or rather most of it, had been a private story. ]

[Well, there is reason for that. Still, he offers a little smile to him]

Haha, I'm not sure I said anything important. Just talked a lot about things relevant to my world.

[He pauses as he deliberates saying more. But...it's probably only fair. He didn't want this guy thinking he was suffering constantly.]

It all worked out in the end. A few weeks later, a god had my friend undergo a trial. In return, she was able to return ...properly, this time.

[....Mostly. Jun and the others still had to kill the greed that started this whole mess all over again before it could wipe out reality because that god brought that thing back too, but eh. Who has time to go over THAT detail]

Memshare/March Catch-All!

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