primrosella | Quest 212

Quest 212

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I'm all right. I'm all right. I'm scared and this is a wretched curse and he's a monster, that doctor, he's nothing but a monster but--but I'm all right. I am. I'm safe in the Warehouse and the spells are all up and he can't get me so long as I'm in here. He's not welcome in here, and the Warehouse won't let him in. It threw him out before. It'll throw him out again.

So I'm all right. I've done worse before. Dealing with Lolotte was worse than this. I was alone in Tamir and I managed all right, even when I had to face her myself. I've held Pandora's Box in my hands, and that was worse than this. He's a monster, and he's a madman, but I'm safer here than I was then. I have friends here. I have defenses here. And he's no different than--than an ogre or a troll. He's just a monster.

And a monster can't love, so if it's cursed to do just that--

Because that must be it. He must be cursed, just like everyone else has been cursed, because he wouldn't have listened to me if he weren't. If it were just a matter of scaring me, taunting Cain--then why would he listen? It wasn't like that the last time, when we thought Cain's father might've found me. He talked to me, but he didn't--listen. Then, it was as though I were just a puppet in the midst of a greater game, and my strings were being pulled every which way. But this...

~~A boy with white hair who couldn't get warm, and sat in an alley covered in blood--~~

But what in the world am I going to do with all that--all those things he left? Goodness knows I wouldn't eat that candy if it were the last thing on earth, and I'm certainly not about to put up those flowers anywhere. And that--that jar of--I don't even know what--

It's the sort of thing I'd expect to find in a hag's cave or an evil wizard's laboratory, not on a doorstep. Not on my doorstep! And if he got it here--then where did he get it from, and--

Honestly, why would you ever?!

Ugh. As if I needed any more reason to hate August. Peter's still--there's still no word of him, and I haven't gotten anywhere at puzzling out how to call on Adrastus's mother for help, and Penny's upset and Cain's in an awful mood and I'm in an awful mood, and why shouldn't I be, when there's a madman delivering parts of people to my doorstep? Ugh, this is always such a terrible month. At least now I know about that...oh, what was it? Tanabata? That story about the Sky Princess and the husband she loved, which explains why there are always troubles with love around this time of year. But it certainly doesn't make things any easier to put up with in the meantime.

I've always managed so far. I can manage now. I just have to get things figured out.

Now, if only all this utter silliness would just be over...

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One of the first lessons I ever learned in this City was about the importance of understanding. In a place like this, with so many people from so many different places, it's easy to find ourselves caught in the middle of misunderstandings simply because we see things in different ways, and because we've all had different experiences that have shaped the way we approach things now. A word from one place might be the same word in another, but the two words might have completely different meanings. A reality in one place might be nothing more than a story in another. A monster in one world might not be a monster in the next.

The curses bring about a lot of misunderstandings, too. That's the whole point of them, really, to make us do things we normally wouldn't, and to try to make us miserable because of it. And oftentimes, they succeed--especially so with curses like this. The ones that make us act differently are the ones that are hardest to be understanding about, both during and afterward, because they turn us into people we're not, make us do things we wouldn't, make us hurt people we ordinarily love. These sorts of curses are some of the worst to endure, and the hardest to forgive.

And yet, these are the ones when forgiveness is needed the most.

I'm still not certain yet if yesterday's curse really ended at midnight, or if it's decided to persist through today as well. Last year this sort of thing ended at the stroke of midnight, and in a rather humiliating way for everyone concerned. This year, it's much harder to tell.

However, when it finally does come to an end, I hope that we can all find it within ourselves to be understanding about the circumstances, and to be open to the people we've hurt, and to forgive the things we said and did when we couldn't help ourselves. And it's a duty that both people need to engage in--the people that were hurt need to find the strength to forgive, and to not hold those actions against the person that hurt them, and the person that was cursed needs to do the responsible thing and ask forgiveness for the things they did, and apologize for hurting their friend, even if they couldn't help it at the time.

I'd hate to see more friendships needlessly ruined over something as silly as a curse.

I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid I won't be coming in to the Library to help today. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, and so I think I'll be staying in and getting some rest until I start feeling a bit more like myself.

[OOC: My, Rosella's certainly putting on a brave face for someone who found a human heart on her doorstep yesterday. Sob. She'll just be over here hating this curse and hiding inside her magically-warded Warehouse until the world stops being crazy, thanks. ♥]

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What kind of trouble?

And more importantly... What can I do to help you?

I'll take them, then, and dispose of them. It's good that you didn't touch them. Whether he's caught up in this curse or not, there may still be something poisonous to them. He's not above that.

[Moment of truth. Does she say it, and risk getting Neil involved? Or does she keep quiet and hope she'll be able to handle it herself?

...Yeah, forget that. Neil's smart enough to know how to stay out of trouble, and she needs someone to talk to.]

Someone left me flowers and candy on my doorstep yesterday. And a jar with...he said it was a heart. A person's heart.

So now I'm staying in the Warehouse because as long as he's unwelcome, he can't get in past the wards. And he's very, very unwelcome at the moment.

He said he had more than just that one. That he'd gone and gotten this one especially for me, and--and cut it out himself. I should think he's not above much of anything.

A h--

That's horrible! Have you told the police?

I haven't told anyone, really, except for Cain and now you. I didn't know what to do with it, so I just...pushed it away from the door and came inside and locked everything up as fast as I could.

No, he isn't. But the Warehouse will keep him out, won't it?

I'll come collect what he left and get rid of it for you.

He said himself he tried and couldn't get in. It's keeping him out, so as long as I stay in here, he can't get to me. Of course, I can't just stay in here forever, but I ought to be safe for the moment.

And I am. I'm all right, just...rattled. Of all the things I might've been expecting to see on my doorstep, that certainly wasn't one of them.

No, of course you can't stay in the Warehouse forever. We shall have to find a better way to guard you when you're not there. I'm glad you're all right for the time being, though.

I don't think anyone would expect to see these things on her doorstep.

If it's not one thing, it's another. I'll start going through my spellbooks to see if there might be anything of use in there, and I'll get my bow replaced as soon as possible, too.

The worst part is thinking that he must've gotten it from somewhere. Or someone, rather.

I'd rather that you didn't have to live in such a way, Rosella.

He likely did, but don't dwell on that.

That sounds... really great, actually. I just need to poke through what I've got and change my clothes, and I'll be by.

[ooc: Your patience is FANTASTIC /appreciates ♥]

I don't suppose we could just turn him into a frog and have that be that, could we?

Believe me, I'm doing everything I can to think of something else. Anything else.

Er--when you get here, message me, won't you? So I can come and unlock the door. I might not hear you if you knock, that's all.

I'll send you a text for sure.

Thank you. I'll watch for it.

I think most of the time they do, and when we can never tell it is good to hope for the best.

The last I can remember is helping Lucy with cakes.

If he were a frog, then we could simply keep him in a jar. I wouldn't object to that, but I don't know that it would work especially well.

I'll put my mind to it as well. I won't have him troubling you, not when he's cursed and not any other time.

That does sound like fun, helping with cakes. I suppose it's difficult not to have fun when sweets are involved, though. ~~Though I do hope they weren't cakes meant for Peter's birthday, or that'd just be...nn.~~

How is she? Lucy, and Ed, and...everyone?

I could do it if I wanted, but it wouldn't take him long to figure out how to reverse it, anyway, so it wouldn't do much good. And I'd have to get much too close to him, besides.

He's only doing it to bother you, isn't he?

[Claire doesn't reply any further but instead does as she's said she would: finds jeans, a t-shirt that has grown too big from repeated washings and wearings, faded and frayed along the hems, and a pair of comfortable sandals she can step into easily. The choice in film is a little more complicated, since she'd like to pick something that Rosella probably hasn't seen or heard of but would enjoy all the same. The Little Mermaid goes into her messenger bag, and, running out of time and options, The Princess Bride follows suit.

In little to no time, Claire is out the lobby doors and trying to keep her head down, as she typically does when curses run rabid through both the streets and across the Network. Scrolling through posts on her device at least manages to pass the time between Building Twelve and the warehouse, and by the time Claire looks up again - not counting the instances she had to in order to make sure she wasn't swept up by the commotion of the day - she's just outside where she wants to be.

Digging her Sidekick out of her back pocket, Claire thumbs through her contacts and relays the message - knock knock! - with only some degree of curiosity as to why Rosella is really both holed up in this place and why she asked Claire to message her at all. Claire can only wait, and she does, stepping back from the door and spending her time casually taking in the scenery.]

He could reverse it? Well, then, we'll have to find a different solution. I've defeated him before in my world. I know it can be done here too.

It's entirely possible that that's his motive for it all, yes.

~~And it means that he knows that we're acquainted--~~

You are very right about that. When sweets are involved things are a little better.

Everyone is well as we can be. Together.

[Having Claire over to visit is a comforting thought in several different ways. For one thing, it's giving Rosella something else to think about besides creepy doctors and severed body parts being left on her doorstep, and giving her something to do besides holing up in a secluded corner of the Warehouse and thinking with all her might that the man is absolutely not welcome inside. The Warehouse will protect her just fine without sitting around and dwelling on the issue, and besides, it'd be nice to have some company right now.

She is halfway through dragging some delightfully squishy oversized pillows down into the den--where all of Sam's electronics are still housed--when her device goes off. Blinking, she retrieves it from her pocket and smiles faintly at the message; it seems Claire found a way for her to "hear" the knock, after all. Quickly, she hauls the pillows down and deposits them outside the doorway before heading for the front door, dusting her hands on her skirt as she goes. After a quick peek out the peephole, just to be doubly sure, she unlocks the door and pulls it open, flashing what she hopes is a normal, friendly smile in greeting.]

Hello, Claire!

That one, he could. There are other things I could turn him into that he couldn't reverse, but it'd take more time to get them set up.

And I don't suppose there's much I can do myself to keep you from being bothered, is there.

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Quest 212

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pass the parcel, wrap unwrap, and open up the locks

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