there's always a lighthouse. there's always a beach party.

[wheremst]

[ Welcome to... a very nice beach, actually! It's very pleasant here. Carmen has set up a couple bonfires, there's some barbecues with meat to cook... and a lot of beach to hang out on! ]

Welcome to California's Pigeon Point Light Station State Park! Between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, just south of Pescadero, this lighthouse gets it's name from the Carrier Pigeon, a ship that wrecked here in 1853! ... Sorry, old habit. Go party. We have the whole place to ourselves. Most everyone here's been through something like this, or knows someone who has. And... the vending machine's bringing in some friends of yours, too.

[ It's a warm late summer night - not too hot for bonfires, but not too chilly that you need to stick by them to survive.

You've made it to the end. There are fellow survivors to meet and commiserate with, friends to meet or catch up with, and... it's over. For those of you returning, it's been about a year since the end of Round 2, and Carmen's gotten the word out to as many people as she can between trying to help this round and tracking down Round 0. If you'd like to play a hostage from the first motive, just know that they will remember it, but it's up to the player in the main round if time has passed since then or not so... it may have been a day or two ago or it may have been months! And hell with it, if you want to play a Round 0 character you suggested back in r1, come talk to us. Why not?

EDIT: Asher has gone to the trouble of making a toplevel directory for anyone intimidated by the number of pages!

Enjoy the last log of Unknown Seas! You've earned it. Love meme will come later tonight in the ooc comm. ]

Comments

[honeyedtea]

[ It takes a while for this lovely sisterly reunion to actually happen because Mielle just sort of vanishes every time it looks like they might bump into each over. Two months is nowhere near enough for her to prepare herself to see Aria again.

Eventually, though, she realizes that getting this over with is probably a better idea than letting Aria run wild saying whatever the hell she wants to all these people who have very graciously and foolishly decided that they enjoy Mielle's company. ]

Ah, so you really are here. And after I had so hoped the the Mayor might be kind enough to send you back to where you belong.

[ Like, you know. The gutter. Or a shallow grave. ]

[dalsegno]

[ judging by the way Aria goes tense at the sight of her, she's no better prepared for this than Mielle is. it's so unsettling that Mielle is older than Aria last saw her. she doesn't like the uncertainty of it; what kinds of things have happened for Mielle that Aria has no knowledge of? what sort of upper hand does she have now, even in this one conversation? the anxiety itches on her skin, and she crosses her arms to shake it off.

she wants to scream. she wants to tear Mielle's hair out by the roots. she wants to shout at everyone here, grab them by their collars and shake them until she understands, because how can she get away with it, how is it that always always always, without even having to try, Mielle is graced with the love and forgiveness that Aria could never get. but because it's Mielle she's dealing with, she plasters a smile on her face as always. ]

How could I leave without knowing what my beloved sister's fate will be?

[honeyedtea]

[ Oh, so that's the game they're playing, is it? After a moment, Mielle folds her arms in turn and, with some effort, manages a smile that doesn't look like she wants to tear out Aria's throat with her teeth. ]

I see. How sweet of you to have been so concerned with me when you'd find through such an ordeal yourself.

[ Aria looks... smaller. Younger. Maybe it's something to do with the way they were brought here - maybe this is an Aria who hasn't quite grown all the way into being a villainess yet. Not that it makes Mielle anymore inclined to be kind to her. ]

You weren't treated too terribly in her care, were you? Noble daughters are typically taught at quite a young age what to expect from a kidnapping... but of course, you wouldn't have been so prepared.

[dalsegno]

[ hah. is that really what she's bragging about? does she think that Aria so desperately wishes she had been born a real aristocrat like Mielle? as if it's something to be proud of, to be that useless, that much of a helpless parasite. there's an enormous contempt lodged in Aria's throat that she's never been able to express and never will, since she has no choice but to play the part of nobility.

but... does it matter, when the Mielle she's speaking to isn't the one she has to live with every day? when there's nobody around to impress? she doesn't have to be as careful with the delicate spider's thread of her own life right now. ]

You're right... I didn't live the kind of sheltered life where I had the privilege of those lessons. I'm glad you're worried about me, but it's okay, sister. Outside of the aristocracy, even a child knows how to survive without being told.

[ she beams, warmly. ahh, it feels good to let loose just a little bit... ]

But, were you alright in this situation? I mean, I hope those lessons were easier for you than your embroidery lessons were...

[honeyedtea]

Oh, of course. Forgive me for my mistake, dear sister. [ Said in a way that somehow makes it sound like drop dead instead. ] I suppose you would've been learning a very different set of lessons from that mother of yours.

[ Not that Mielle ever saw her do anything other than sit around and embarrass herself. Perhaps it was too much to ask of a woman like that to even pretend she cared about acting like a countess. ]

But really, you don't need to be concerned about me at all. Everyone here has been so kind and understanding – would you believe that I've been fortunate enough to find myself with some friends in a horrid situation like this?

[ So you'd better not try any shit. ]

[dalsegno]

[ at the mention of her mother, Aria's expression turns cold in an instant. really... if it had only ever been Aria that Mielle hated, she wonders if things might have turned out differently. she might have been able to accept that blame. but even though she's never had a warm, loving relationship with her mother — what she can't forgive is the contempt for the woman who worked hard to keep Aria alive this long and who has done nothing to wrong the Roscents. when Mielle murdered Aria's mother just because of who she was, rather than what she had done, it became impossible to move past it. ]

It's a surprise, but I suppose birds of a feather must flock together. [ she maintains that arch, noble tone she's worked hard to adopt. as if everything is so far beneath her that it can't possibly affect her. ] In which case, can you really call them kind? I mean... there is a limit to forgiveness before it becomes foolishness.

[ because to forgive Mielle, either they must be idiots or— ] Or else it becomes evil in kind.

[ she and Aria are the same in that sense. does Mielle really think she can hold others close without staining them, leaving her tar-black fingerprints all over good people? if you want to use people, you have to accept the inevitability of destroying them too. ]