[02] three lies, one truth

[judicialassistant]

Sender: Susato Mikotoba
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Descriptions of death (specifically: falling/burning, stabbing, freezing, drowning) and the crippling fear that comes with that.

---

When Susato is first seen, she is nigh unrecognizable. There's only a glimpse of her. Her hair is frazzled, long well past her shoulders, and the white dress she wears, accented by pinks, does not match the grim darkness of the cage she is in. Seconds later, there's a loud metallic clang as the cage is shut.

There's movement like a shaky camera, and you... no, Susato is looking into the eyes of one man who looks almost surprised to see her. As if he hadn't been the one to put her there.

"Mr Vigil?"

The voice is small and cracks like glass over the flames below.

Before he can respond, there's the sound of a lever and a deafening scream as a feeling of terrifying weightlessness takes over your body.

You're falling, and you don't know when you'll stop.

* * * * *
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

When the dream spits you out, you can taste a mixture of blood and dirt as you blink your eyes open. They sting like you've been crying, and when you bring your filthy hands up to look at them, you can see the pink of your kimono sleeves. The loops in your air feel looser and messier than usual as you can feel the terrifying glare of a man before you, bleeding and in chains, and yet no less threatening.

All around you are corpses. You just barely manage to struggle to your feet when he moves to strike you down with alarming quickness, his blade and scythe at his call. Something hard and sharp pierces your stomach as his voice booms:

"You will not tarnish... my brother's memory...!"

You were so close. You can see some of the broken chains you worked so hard at; he was almost free.

But it's too late.

A laughter seems to be coming from the noble in the portrait behind the Reaper, and an eerie red glow bleeds out from the canvas as your consciousness fades.

* * * * *
The laughter transforms into something else, another voice. It is almost pleasant; and the scene is entirely different now. A gorgeous ballroom surrounds you with an air of celebration, you are humbled, taking the man before you in a dance. Here is the face that everyone says you can trust, and yet you can hear suspicious whispers coming from the walls.

Something is wrong.

You feel cold in a way that is inexplicable. Your very core is frozen, and it feels like you will never get warm. suddenly it's a struggle just to move with the music; but eventually you stop listening to that, too.

"Don't struggle." The king pulls you close in what is most certainly a threatening manner. Beneath your gloves, your fingers have already become ice. "Your death is inevitable now. Accept it with grace, and don't scream."

But even if you wanted to, you can't.

Pathetic gurgles escape your throat as ice travels up your chest and your neck. A piece of your white hair falls across your face, but when you go to brush it away, your hands won't move. Nothing will.

There is stillness. For a moment, you have hope, because you can still move your terrified, wide eyes, but soon that too is gone.

* * * * *
In that moment, you're not able to look at anything else.

Your neck is craned upwards and suddenly, the dream has shifted one final time. You're staring at the surface of the freezing cold water from below, unable to breathe, but the Gods above have mercy on you, and it doesn't last long. A glaring white starts to creep into the corners of your vision, filling everything in haze, and the dream ends as suddenly as it began.

* * * * *

[ Back in the comparative comforts of her home, Susato awakes with a start. She gasps for breath like she's just been held underwater, sitting up and gripping at her blankets. For all she knows, they are her lifeline. She is shaking, the faded memories of dreamscapes past rushing back to her, and she feels her arm knock something off the bed she's on.

......All she can do is breathe. ]

---

(( ooc: tl;dr, just a fun throwback to the fun deaths i've been able to put her through this past year. <3 please assume delayed responses where appropriate/etc. ))

Comments

[judicialassistant]

[ Things she now knows: Leo's last name is Valdez.

The next morning, Susato has been "banned" (affectionately) from her work from the Wild Harvest, so she has spent the morning feeling very strange about sleeping in, and using the extra time to make herself some tea and catch up on her reading.

Every once and a while she'll go out to get something or keep herself busy upstairs, away from the restaurant; and occasionally she'll check her journal. ]

Good morning, Leo.

I'm faring better. My apologies that you had to see that. I have pleasant dreams too, honest.

[morsecodes]

[It...honestly takes way longer than he'd care to admit to just understand Susato's message. Curse dyslexia. It was so annoying to him that numbers and letters made complete sense in the context of math and architecture, but put it in a sentence? Cue the error messages.

But he deciphers it to the best of his ability, and then comes the next challenge: replying.

He's really trying, okay?]

its ok, myne arnt much beter. gues i have this too look frward too

[He's really missing Iris messages and his holographic scrolls right about now.]

[judicialassistant]

[ Listen, she is fluent but English is her second language. Magical translation shenanigans that may or may not be present aside, she has been there, though she is also seeing how slowly his replies are being written now.

She tilts her head, resisting the urge to just... correct everything. ]

We haven't seen each other since the Witch's curse was lifted, have we? Would you like to meet?

[morsecodes]

[Listen he can't help it, he hasn't been in a stable home situation for years and definitely didn't put in effort in all the foster homes that he knew he wouldn't be at for long anyway. And who needs to know English when you're in a Greek demigod camp?]

shure u r up 4 it?

[He didn't want her to push herself if she wasn't feeling up to it!! But he would much rather check on her in person than keep struggling with this journal nonsense.]

[judicialassistant]

[ It's pretty late, but she would also like to ease his struggling. Both his and hers from reading it... ]

Yes. Is there a landmark near you I can find?

If you're not sure, we can meet at the Tree of Stories instead.

[morsecodes]

[UHHHHHHH yeah he still doesn't really know where the heck anything is around here yet but that tree is definitely unmistakable.]

shure lets do thaat!!

[brb gotta actually remember where that is--- BUT HE'LL FIND IT. Eventually. Don't mind him, just hanging around a tree and making his hands light up in flames cause he's bored.]

[judicialassistant]

[ Yep! It's a good landmark, for sure! And if she's honest, one of her favorite places in the town. It's very large, and on the way, Leo probably would have passed the Archives.

Either way, Susato is able to spot him from a distance thanks to his flaming hands. Before Leo can notice, Susato is staring at her own hands, wondering if she can do the same; but in the end, she just ends up holding a flame within her hand like usual, using it like a lantern as she closes the distance. ]

Leo?

[morsecodes]

[Leo spots the fire before anything else and he's a bit taken aback when he realizes there are flames in her hands.

Wait.

Wait..

Needless to say, he clears the distance between them, and points at the fire in her hands, except his fingers are still lit up, so he shakes them until his own flames go out.]

You never said you had fire powers!!

[judicialassistant]

[ She jolts a bit as how quickly he moves. He really is excitable! She closes her hand in a fist, and when she reopens it, her flame is also extinguished, leaving only the light of the two moons and also a light that shines from inside the Tree of Stories.

There's a timid smile. ]

It's just dreamotion, I'm afraid. I have been practicing over the past year.

[morsecodes]

But then how'd I-- [Leo's eyes glance over to the arm he had accidentally burned off when she was a cookie, but he can't bring himself to actually say those words. He still felt incredibly guilty.

But then again, maybe...not everyone that can control fire are actually fireproof too? Which seems stupid too him, but he's not the one that makes these rules.]

That dreamotion stuff can really let you do anything, huh? [He's whistles in awe. He really needs to figure it out so he can do other cool things like his friends back home.]

[judicialassistant]

[ Susato tilts her head, curious about what was about to ask, but no. The whole fireproof thing is something strictly unique to Leo. She'll allow him to trail off, however, and her smile grows warmer and a little more confident. ]

Anything is possible once you wrap your head around a concept.

[ Her hand moves to open the door, beckoning him inside. ]

Come. It won't be crowded this time of night, so we can sit for a while.

[morsecodes]

Is it like praying? Or wishing? [In the last year, he has gotten more used to praying to his dad for help. And sometimes, his dad actually answered! He's not sure if that's anything remotely similar but he's willing to try if it means cool powers.

He nods and shimmies through the door, and immediately starts taking in his surroundings. Books lined the walls, floor after floor, just...books. He knew Annabeth would be heaven, seeing a place like this. He didn't know if she had dyslexia like the rest of them but it never seemed to bother her as much. She liked reading.

Even for someone like him that did not enjoy trying to read, it was pretty cool. He wondered if there was anything like the Archimedes scrolls in here, that would give him an inside scoop on the ancient tech he had still been trying to figure out--

Oh right. Sitting. And talking with Susato. That was what he was here for.]

I didn't know all this was inside here.

[judicialassistant]

Hmm... [ Dreaming, perhaps? Is that a little too on the nose? She seems to be considering how she should answer him, but once they're inside, it seems to be forgotten. Perhaps it is best if he finds out for himself, anyway, and maybe then he'd even be able to feel the difference.

She comes here fairly frequently, so there is no grand reaction. Rather, she appears to be enjoying Leo's instead. They find an empty table to sit, and it is quiet. In the corner, there's even a station set up for coffee and various teas. ]

It wasn't always. This Tree appeared following last year's Flower Festival, along with all the books you could possibly dream of.

Mostly stories, as the name suggests, but I have found some educational books as well.

[morsecodes]

You've been here that long? [Not that Leo knows that timing exactly but flowers implies spring, so nearly a year? If not more?? He deflates slightly at the thought, because that means he could be stuck here that long, and that means that much longer without seeing Calypso again.]

Anything in Greek? [Because then he might actually be able to understand it. He knew English and Spanish, of course, but trying to read those two languages always made his brain hurt and he hated dealing with the trouble. He was already annoyed enough as it was trying to read the stupid journal for communication around here.]

[judicialassistant]

[ She gets that first question a lot... But at the second, a look of surprise crosses her for a moment, as if she's never thought about it before. ]

I... haven't noticed any? [ She hasn't really gone out of her way to look, either. She's not sure whether dream magic is at play, translating everything they see. Maybe to an extent? ]

Do you struggle with reading and writing English, Leo?

[morsecodes]

Drats, that would've been cool-- [Leo trails off at the thought, because the hope of maybe finding a copy of the Archimedes' scrolls, or some other kinda of lost Greek technology sounded cool at hell, but alas.

To her question, however, he ducks his head, laughing nervously as he rubs the back of his head.]

That obvious? But yeah, just a bit. It's a demigod thing, dyslexia. Thanks dad, I already don't fit in the normal world as it is, but I suck at English and Spanish. At least reading and writing them, anyway.

[judicialassistant]

[ Now that Leo and other demigods are here, perhaps their presence can manifest Greek texts into being. Until then, Susato watches and listens with interest. This is not the first time she has heard the term 'demigod,' and she wonders if that means he knows Percy.

Dad... How many Greek gods were there, again? ]

I see. Dyslexia... [ She closes her eyes, as if trying to remember something. ] I've never heard of that. Nor do I speak Spanish, but... I did work hard to learn English as a second language, so I think I can relate to your struggles.

[morsecodes]

[Never heard of dyslexia? Susato seems so smart, he kinda figured she would just assume she'd know it.]

It's-- actually, that's exactly how it feels. It's like Greek is my actual first language, and whenever I try to look at English or Spanish, everything just flips and spins and my brain just makes a loud error message.

[He wonders if he would be better at managing it if his mom hadn't died, and he actually stayed in school and didn't run away and actually cared to try.

He didn't really care about it, and it never really mattered, until he got here and everything had to be read and written. Archaic.]

[judicialassistant]

[ Susato may have taken him literally for a moment and flinched at the mental image. Despite her vast knowledge of facts and random trivia, she is still limited to her time period, and what she has learned here after the fact. And the fact is that, before demigods, she's never encountered anyone with such issues. ]

. . . Perhaps I could help to make the error message slightly less, um, loud? With time?

[morsecodes]

[Leo perks up a little.]

You think? [It can't be impossible, anyway. And it's not like they all struggle to the same extent. Frank seemed to be pretty normal, lucky him.]

It's a problem for pretty much all of us. I know Percy struggles -- he's here, by the way. Have you met him? -- anyway, he manages it better than me, and his girlfriend Annabeth -- she's not here, at least not that I've seen-- she actually likes reading.

[But they probably put in the effort and tried. And it helped that both of them were in stable-ish places to actually do that. Until this past year, he hadn't stayed in one place for very long at all.]

[judicialassistant]

[ It really sounds like she should meet this Annabeth person. One thing she's learning very quickly is that Leo talks a lot, and it is difficult to respond or even keep up with everything he says; but by gods, she will try. ]

Oh, yes, I've met Percy. And I like reading, too. That is why I offered my help, though I haven't had formal training as a teacher or anything.

This would just be, um... for fun. [ Suddenly she's formed a demigod study group. ]

[morsecodes]

[Leo just wrinkles his nose a bit.]

That sounds like fun to you...? [It doesn't to him, butttt, considering reading and writing is the only way of communication around here, it might be for the best if he gives it a shot.]

I mean, if you're just that bored, sure, I guess. Let's do it.

[judicialassistant]

[ She's a total bookworm, sorry, Leo. ]

It is not that I am bored... I simply enjoy it. [ It has only occurred to her somewhat recently that her love for reading could also translate to enjoying writing as well, and telling the very stories she enjoys reading—but of course, she's no Iris. ]

Besides, I am sure I could learn from you all as well.

[morsecodes]

Sure, if you wanna learn about what a dysfunctional family the Olympian gods are, or about building things, or, dunno, about chemical reactions and stuff. That's about all I'm good at.

[Honestly if he had his way, he'd just make holographic scrolls to use and not worry about reading, but alas, he was fresh out of celestial bronze to do just that.]

[judicialassistant]

[ At the very least, Susato already seems fascinated by the idea. There are entire tales to be told about the Olympian gods, she knows—some which probably already exist. ]

That is plenty! Besides reading and writing, all I have is law. And... now cooking, I suppose.