Thanks, you guys. It was a lot of fun to write.
Intermission #2: Orchid vs. OrchidThis part of the records is a secret; she never elected to tell anyone about this moment, and was wise to do so. But I...I have nothing else to do, but wait. They've bound me against acting -- they know I am set to escape my bonds, and they fear... So gather round for storytime, boys and girls.
On the day of Heath's first kiss, Orchid Seraphim reached the top of her career.
"Oh, yes! Now, nothing'll hold me back!" The idea that anything could hold her back to begin with would have surprised most people who knew her, and possibly even Orchid herself.
But it was true. There were things Orchid could not do, risks she could not take: not when it took the fate of her family out of her control. This wouldn't open up much in the short room: she could no more take Linden and never come back today than she could yesterday. She couldn't give either of them a death-flower and set them running for the hills...Her win-win didn't exist just yet.
Still, since she had met all her needs for a career, and Heath had yet to start his...
"Time-stream, here I come!"
After all, even if she changed her career, what did it matter? She was done needing a career...Though she wasn't sure yet if she'd keep hers; it gave her a way to fill her days.
And she she fired up her time-machine, to search for some solution (and adventure) "in THE FUTURE!" As she would put it.
She landed on a mountaintop, somewhere far away from anything she knew. The air was crisp and thin; the plants were chinese, but not from Shang Simla.
A girl meditated beneath a twisted pine, still as a part of the landscape; was she breathing, or was the wind simply moving her chest somehow? It all seemed about the same.
That girl, dressed in gold and red, her streaky hair moving with the wind through the pine needles...
Was, without a question,
a younger Orchid Seraphim.
This moment had never happened, as far as the Orchid we know remembered. This place was one she had never been. She stood there, the hamster-wheel of her mind running until the hamster had to sit down and have a breather. The Young Orchid opened one bright, crystal-blue eye. It wasn't the oldest eye Orchid had ever seen; that honor would always belong to Ariel's eyes. But there was something about the gaze that the young Orchid fixed her with that was simmilar, not unlike the look her own mother's eyes had been taking on lately, since her loose ties to the "real world" were undone.
"I was waiting for this! What took you so long?" Said the strange, younger-older Orchid. A fierce smile -- Orchid's own smile -- spread across her lips.
"How could I know your schedule? I'm not you yet, am I?" Asked our Orchid. She laughed.
The future Orchid stood up, brushing the dirt off of her legs.
"That's true. I've come this far as Heroine, but the mysterious mentor's a not-bad role...Just this once. But if you want some future wisdom..."
The two of them stared at each other like a pair of wild dogs. The grin between them was electric, the anticipation humid in the air.
"I'm not giving up without a fight," rang out their singular voice.
They leapt into battle, moving in blurs and the sudden rush of impact. The girl from the future was everywhere, seemingly at once -- everywhere Orchid turned, there was her fist, her foot, her ponytail spinning to make another pivot, catch Orchid off her wind with another brutal roundhouse. She returned as best she could -- catching her future self's hand and throwing her, throwing a punch across her jaw... But future-Orchid would be back before the timetraveller could blink.
Eventually, they stopped when Our Orchid could no longer stand. The future Orchid sat beside her, and stroked her hair with the fondness of a mother.
"I -- You did good...And you will do good." She pursed her lips, unsatisfied with such a weak-hearted consolation to her past self. She gave it some thought, and eventually just let out an agonized howl of frustration
"This timetravel junk is a huge pain; if I goof, Iris told me that the whole world will be destroyed because spacetime and yadda-yadda. What does she think my life is, Back to the Future? You're not Doc Brown, Iris!"
Iris, whoever she was, was apparently not present to respond. Still, future-Orchid wailed against her until the timetravelling Orchid sat up.
"Don't give anything away; what's a story without a few twists?" The timetravelling Orchid folded her arms over her legs. All the same, there was something she wanted to hear. Just one name.
"Ha! Fair enough...I'll just say this: there's no way he can't die. It'd only make the going harder anyway."
The words dropped like hot irons in Orchid's brain. She faced her future, her face a mask of revulsion.
"What?!"
Her future didn't flinch.
"Power through. Through everything... Only on the other side of all your struggles is what you're questing for; that's how a story has to go, right?" She tilted her head and added, after a moment's recolection "...But, even though I just said those things to you... Don't give in. Never surrender to fate, no matter how cruel. If they say to go up, go left. They say to stand still, ascend. No matter how impossible, never give in. That's something... Everyone will need that of you."
She declared, the setting sun framing her in gold, turning her into a wind-swept figure, solid as obsidian.
Orchid, our Orchid, set her mouth into a solid line.
"So...You fight me, and then just tell me to do things I'd already have done?"
"I'm you; how can I tell you to do something you wouldn't, or give you knowledge you don't have?" She shrugged. "I'm just reminding you what matters. It's all I can do for you." The future-woman began to walk down a path, down towards a mountainside. "Well, I gotta go; I can't keep him waiting forever."
"That's cheap advice! You're a sucky mentor!" Orchid yelled at the retreating back of her own future-self.
Then she grinned.
"But I'm a pretty good heroine, after all."
Then time found her and brought her where she needed to be; she stumbled as she exited the time machine. It was the night before Heath's Young Adult birthday, and the moon was already high in the sky.
"Ugh. I'm late for our talk," She muttered, and headed downstairs. After all, the future sounded like it was going to be exciting.
Special FeatureSince, for once in my life, I have room for screenshots, let me share with you the fun results of UnlockOutfits becoming allowed! The first stage of this is Aster's wardrobe, which will start appearing in its new form around... Chapter 61 or 62 or so.
I save her old everyday for later and start off with this; it's got a lot of Evanthe-based inspirations (besides the IF shirt, the unicorn on her face-paint has green hair and is grey, Evanthe's favorite color), but...I'm torn on the pants. I may put her back in her skirt. But the rest, I like.
Orchid will still be going in holes and space-time (because she's Orchid), but at least now I can jump straight to the bit where Aster dresses like a cave-lady. Because it suits her.
I just thought this showtime unlockable looked nice and Aster-y. I was really just having fun at this point.
And a medieval-inspired Formalwear. I'm thinking about maybe giving a dress like this to Ariel, too. I am contemplating replacing the hat (which she still has for her other formal) with This hair, since I own the set already and junk. So much to think about...
