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poly_chromatic2012-08-11 07:55 am
claimyourself) wrote in poly_chromatic2012-08-11 07:55 am
Entry tags:
Five Moons ℂ Video {Memory Theater}
Black text = Lena; Blue text = Amma; Red text = Ethan
[The scene is confusing. It's some sort of overgrown graveyard, but it's on fire. And yet the flames aren't moving. It's like time is frozen, and that's because it is. People are frozen in place. One is a woman holding a knife and standing over a boy laying on top a crypt. There's blood coating the front of his shirt at the stomach. His eyes are shut and even if the scene wasn't frozen, one could tell he's dead. Lena is kneeling next to him with a book beside her, open to a certain page. She looks nearly the same as now, except in the memory, both her eyes are green. There's a woman beside her, old and bony, but with a determined face and an air of strength.
Both she and Lena close their eyes and Lena begins to chant in Latin. Then the woman takes her hands in both of hers and they both recite the chant in English:]
Blood of my heart,
protection is thine.
Life of my life,
taking yours, taking mine.
Body of my body,
marrow and mind.
Soul of my soul,
to our spirit bind.
Blood of my heart,
my tides, my moon.
Blood of my heart,
my salvation, my doom.
[After the last word, lightning strikes Lena and the old woman is thrown back, but Lena doesn't seem to be in pain. In fact, she opens her eyes and they glow gold.]
[The old woman looks stunned.]
My boy!
[Ethan's body is covered in a gold light, but he doesn't revive.]
It didn't work! IT DIDN'T WORK!
[Lena jumps up and moves away from the crypt, then looks at the sky, raising up her arms and looking furious. There's a flash of lightning across the sky that splits into three points, each striking a target. Two are men and one is the woman with the knife. Flames erupt around the woman's frozen form. Lena looks away for a moment to wipe her eyes, but when she looks back, all three are gone.
Rain begins to fall, putting out the still frozen flames. She moves back to the crypt, but Ethan's body is no longer there. In his place is an older man, perhaps in his forties or fifties, lying in the exact position Ethan had been. Lena looks to the old woman.]
Amma? Where's Ethan? What happened?
[Amma looks scared, eyes wide.]
Never thought it would end like this, Melchizedek. After all those years, holding the weight of the world on our shoulders together. How am I gonna hold it up on my own?
[Lena grabs Amma by the shoulders.]
Amma, what's going on?
[Finally Amma looks at her and whispers,]
You can't get something from the book without giving something in return.
[Lena kneels beside the man and touches his face.]
No, please, no!
[The wind blows hard around them, but suddenly Lena looks like she realizes something and jumps up, running. She runs to a spot in the grass where Ethan now lies, a dog lying beside him. Lena grabs his hand, but her expression makes it clear that he's still dead. She lays her head upon his chest and sobs, pressing his hand to her cheek.]
I won't say goodbye. I won't say it.
[Suddenly Ethan's hand begins to move.]
L? [Though his lips don't move, she hears him. This is her memory, after all, and so it shows the audience that she and Ethan can talk in their heads. She smiles, kissing his hand.] Are you there, Lena Beana?
[She laces her fingers with his and looks up at the sky, the rain still falling down.]
I'm here.
Don't go.
I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you.
[Right after this, the video stops and a minute later, Lena looks wide-eyed into the camera.]
How did-- what was that? How do I erase it?
[The scene is confusing. It's some sort of overgrown graveyard, but it's on fire. And yet the flames aren't moving. It's like time is frozen, and that's because it is. People are frozen in place. One is a woman holding a knife and standing over a boy laying on top a crypt. There's blood coating the front of his shirt at the stomach. His eyes are shut and even if the scene wasn't frozen, one could tell he's dead. Lena is kneeling next to him with a book beside her, open to a certain page. She looks nearly the same as now, except in the memory, both her eyes are green. There's a woman beside her, old and bony, but with a determined face and an air of strength.
Both she and Lena close their eyes and Lena begins to chant in Latin. Then the woman takes her hands in both of hers and they both recite the chant in English:]
Blood of my heart,
protection is thine.
Life of my life,
taking yours, taking mine.
Body of my body,
marrow and mind.
Soul of my soul,
to our spirit bind.
Blood of my heart,
my tides, my moon.
Blood of my heart,
my salvation, my doom.
[After the last word, lightning strikes Lena and the old woman is thrown back, but Lena doesn't seem to be in pain. In fact, she opens her eyes and they glow gold.]
[The old woman looks stunned.]
My boy!
[Ethan's body is covered in a gold light, but he doesn't revive.]
It didn't work! IT DIDN'T WORK!
[Lena jumps up and moves away from the crypt, then looks at the sky, raising up her arms and looking furious. There's a flash of lightning across the sky that splits into three points, each striking a target. Two are men and one is the woman with the knife. Flames erupt around the woman's frozen form. Lena looks away for a moment to wipe her eyes, but when she looks back, all three are gone.
Rain begins to fall, putting out the still frozen flames. She moves back to the crypt, but Ethan's body is no longer there. In his place is an older man, perhaps in his forties or fifties, lying in the exact position Ethan had been. Lena looks to the old woman.]
Amma? Where's Ethan? What happened?
[Amma looks scared, eyes wide.]
Never thought it would end like this, Melchizedek. After all those years, holding the weight of the world on our shoulders together. How am I gonna hold it up on my own?
[Lena grabs Amma by the shoulders.]
Amma, what's going on?
[Finally Amma looks at her and whispers,]
You can't get something from the book without giving something in return.
[Lena kneels beside the man and touches his face.]
No, please, no!
[The wind blows hard around them, but suddenly Lena looks like she realizes something and jumps up, running. She runs to a spot in the grass where Ethan now lies, a dog lying beside him. Lena grabs his hand, but her expression makes it clear that he's still dead. She lays her head upon his chest and sobs, pressing his hand to her cheek.]
I won't say goodbye. I won't say it.
[Suddenly Ethan's hand begins to move.]
L? [Though his lips don't move, she hears him. This is her memory, after all, and so it shows the audience that she and Ethan can talk in their heads. She smiles, kissing his hand.] Are you there, Lena Beana?
[She laces her fingers with his and looks up at the sky, the rain still falling down.]
I'm here.
Don't go.
I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you.
[Right after this, the video stops and a minute later, Lena looks wide-eyed into the camera.]
How did-- what was that? How do I erase it?
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That, that sucks! Why should everyone get to see that? I-I don't--
[She shakes her head, trying to get her jumbled thoughts straightened out.]
Did you see the whole thing? What did it start with?
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[Why is it always graveyards? She'd only been half-joking about her and Lena being the same person, but come on.]
A—spell, I think? There was an old woman—
I didn't mean to watch it, but the City... I'm really sorry, Lena. I won't ask questions if you'd rather not, I know what it's like to be on the other end of this curse.
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[She blows out a breath. If the memory started with Amma already there, then it skipped the part where Lena's mother came and tried to get her to go Dark like her. It skipped the part where her mother stabbed Ethan, trying to force Lena to turn Dark in order to save him.]
That was my birthday. Some day, huh?
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Was Ethan alright?
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Yeah, with the book. It had the Cast I needed to bring him back to life.
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[Her eyes dart down to her lap for a moment.]
Did you see the older man who ended up where Ethan had been lying?
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[Ginny pales a little at that, thinks of how she made a trade here in the City just a while ago—memories for age. She's older now and she feels a bit selfish for it.]
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[She inhales deeply, ready to explain.]
I used the Book of Moons to save Ethan, but you can't get something from the book without it taking something in return. The man -- my uncle, the book took his life in exchange for bringing Ethan back.
[Her voice is shaking slightly now, but she goes on.]
Uncle Macon had been injured, lying in the grass. But he had been healed by my grandmother. He was fine, but by doing the Cast I agreed to make a trade, and it took Uncle Macon in Ethan's place, and put Ethan in the grass where Uncle Macon had been lying. I-I didn't know it would-- Ethan, I was just so desperate to save Ethan that I killed Uncle Macon.
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[Her voice is soft, tight; she can't imagine it. Yes, it makes sense, because magic that powerful can't be done without consequence and although it doesn't happen in her world she can figure out what the rules could be.]
You couldn't have known. And caring about someone—you don't know what you'd do for them until you do it. I get that.
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I was a mess for months afterward, and I pushed everyone away because I felt so guilty. And-- [Here she lets out a sad little laugh.] Do you know what the strangest part is? He came back. He was saved from death and his spirit kept in a safe place until he was released. It's... completely crazy. I'm thrilled he's back, but I still can't believe what happened in the first place.
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And then Ginny frowns, confused.]
What d'you mean?
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[She's not going to mention that the person who trapped his spirit in the Arclight was Ethan's dead mother, who had been Macon's lover before they separated and she met Ethan's father. Because this is already crazy as hell]
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[Your world, Lena. What.]
Well, I mean, at least it turned out alright in the end? Merlin's beard, though—the magic in your world, sometimes I think it's similar to mine, and other times it's a bit—just, wow.
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Yeah. Sometimes it surprises me too. That whole thing with the Arclight sure did.
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Are you alright, though? I know this isn't exactly the most pleasant curse.
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Those kind must be pretty effective.
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