tushanshu_logs | [Open] April Comes She Will (April Catch-All!)

Characters: Sheena Fujibayashi and YOU! No, really! You, and you, and you, and YOU!
Date: Second week of April on. (She may be visiting a certain red-head during the first week while he's "sick".)
Location: Errywhere
Situation: Oh Sheena doing Sheena things, training, summoning, working, wandering the turtle. (Plus a serious nightmare moment or two)
Warnings/Rating: PG in case Sheena starts cursing. :) Nightmare scenarios won't have much detail, but they will involve mentions of death. That will be labeled.

A - Jasmine Dragon Tea House - Open

Yes, the recent announcement is true. Sheena now owns the Tea House. And is actually pretty comfortable doing it--except where paperwork is concerned. That has been, and always will be, her greatest foe. Next to holes, of course.

None of that shows, however, as she bustles through the place, stopping to chat with staff and customers alike until she can find a moment's peace and enjoy a pot of tea herself at one of the tables. Still, there's no sense of her wanting to be left alone, so whether someone is looking for a job, or is merely stopping by to see her, or even a stranger with a question, feel free to join her.

She'll even offer you a cup of tea and something to eat.

B - Nightmare Aftermath (CW: Possible mentions/descriptions of death) - Open

Before the sun rising is a strange time for people to be up and about, but there are those who are. Perhaps they're going to work, or they're just morning people. In Sheena's case, however, she had just had a nightmare, and is out and about to "deal" with it--dressed in clothing that matches her attire from home. (A clear sign to those who know her that something's up.)

Even if Raine may have managed to stop her and talk to her about it.

And different nightmares have different reactions, so some days you may find her:

1) With a very placid, almost lifeless, expression standing still in an open part of the city. On a bridge or on a roof or even in a public square, with her face upturned, letting either the rain or sunshine wash over her. Or, with that same expression, standing quietly by, listening to the Kedan children play with Corrine's twin, Tomoya. Sheena? Quiet? Standing still? Placid and lifeless? Yeah, there's definitely something up here.

2) Or, perhaps you're sensitive to shifts in mana, or can detect when a Summon is called. Or perhaps it's the sound of lightning striking that catches your attention. Or maybe it's the sight of a huge ball of lightning with eyes that makes you head out to where Sheena is fighting against the Spirit itself.

"Volt!" she cries, launching herself at the Spirit.

Is she in trouble? Does she need help? Or is this some kind of therapy for her? Do you rush to her aid? Or do you hang back and watch, waiting?

[ ooc note: Sheena had three main nightmares. One is canon and comes from the game. The other two are based on incidents that happened during her time in AmatOmnes. While I try not to be too graphic with the descriptions, if you don't want the details, please let me know. ]

C - Healer's Guild - Open

Whoops. Seems Sheena had a little bit of an accident while fighting that big ol' ball of Lightning, and is now sporting a few burns along her legs and arms. Nothing major, but without gels or healing abilities of her own, she has no way of taking care of them. Besides, if she had been brought here by someone else, she really hadn't been in a position to say "no".

She is, however, in a position to make one request.

"Do me a favor," she says to anyone and everyone, "don't tell Raine I'm here? Please?" Surely a sensible request, right? Like the head of the Guild wouldn't find out anyway.

D - Greenhouses

When she's not working or dealing with her nightmares, Sheena can be found where the new greenhouses are, lending a hand. Sometimes alone, sometimes with Gnome. Hey, if you've got an Earth Spirit you can ask to help with the land, why not? Except this particular Spirit has Sheena sighing and rolling her eyes.

"At least there aren't any Gnomelettes."

Curious? She'll be more than happy to tell you all about those little guys.

E - Wildcard!

Got an idea that's not up there? Except for the first week, Sheena's going to be out and about the rest of the month.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ah. I see," she says quietly. "And that makes sense. I misunderstood before."

Dying and being resurrected isn't exactly something Sheena's fond of, either. Even in battle a person isn't truly resurrected--they're alive, but just barely. Lifesigns unable to be seen with the naked eye. But in three cases, that hadn't been true.

And the last case hadn't even been in battle--which bothers her on another level entirely.

"Then I'll tell you." Somewhere in the back of her mind are the words that sharing something like this helps a person heal. And she really needs to heal.

"During a time that I was unable to see, my heart was cut out by a rival of the 'goddess' of the island I was on." You can practically hear the quotes around goddess when she speaks.

It takes momentary effort, but Devin suppresses a snort and keeps his expression fairly neutral. "Sometimes, I'm almost certain this place is yanking me around on purpose with irony," he says first. "I can't speak to the blindness, but someone attempted to cut my heart out of my chest about a decade ago."

That was probably the closest he's come to dying; he'd been awake through it all. The person who'd done might be considered a 'goddess', quotes an all, as well. How interesting.

"Why did she do that to you?"

Normally, his reaction would have gotten more than just a raised eyebrow from Sheena. She would have been yelling and demanding what it is he found so funny. As it is, she merely watches and waits, the barest flicker of annoyance crossing her features.

At least her emotions are starting to return.

"This wasn't an attempt, it succeeded. And I was also aware of everything," she says before shaking her head. "I'm sorry; I sort of misled you. The rival wasn't a 'she'. It was a 'he'. His name was Eros."

"Eros," Devin echoes. In his world, at least, Eros was a god of love - modern day knew him as Cupid. To hear that someone of that same name went around blinding people and cutting out their hearts was... strangely appropriate. Eros in his world was said to be blind, ergo 'love is blind', and he did deal in matters of the heart.

Sheena is just getting more intriguing by the second, albeit in a macabre sort of way.

"I merely brought up my own experience to suggest I might understand something of what you went through, not to negate what you said," he points out calmly. "And why did Eros see fit to remove your heart?" he asks again.

Sheena nods and seems to read his mind. "Yes, some told me he's known as the God of Love, since Atia is the Goddess of Sex." Tells you what kind of place she had been in, doesn't it?

And she hasn't even really told him everything yet.

"Again, I apologize." Her emotions might be dampened, but she still has a habit of speaking without thinking at times. "And I'm sorry you went through that." Emotions or no, the sentiment is sincere. Sighing in thought, the ninja shakes her head before she starts to explain.

"Because Eros has always wanted the power Atia's 'worshipers' gave her, so he thought to hold our lives as ransom," she says. "And because it was symbolic--Valentine's Day was coming up."

"Let me guess - Atia didn't bend to the threat and Eros had his way with your heart." And probably others. "True and false gods both are often nasty, fickle creatures."

The apology was unnecessary, but Devin inclines his head in acceptance anyway, since she saw fit to give it. Sheena seems rather twisted about.

He shook his head. "Eros obviously was either very poorly educated, or took the origin of Valentine's Day a bit too literally. Saint Valentine was a martyr. It was Chaucer who made the day about love, not history." And now it was a Hallmark holiday. "How were you brought back?"

Sheena was silent for a moment. "That's one way to put it. And I wasn't the only one. However, Eros stopped challenging Atia directly and began doing things like this whenever she had to leave the island. I think he felt that we'd be upset that she wasn't there to protect us and that we would turn to him." She shook her head.

"Idiot." Yep, she still calls them as she sees them. And he may notice that as she speaks, the woodenness she had displayed is starting to melt here and there.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I know that it's a tradition on Earth, and that a lot of Atia's family--other Gods--have the same names as those from that world. It's possible they took the names after encountering the planet, or he adopted the symbolism then. I honestly don't know. As for how I came back." She paused.

"Since this wasn't a 'normal' death, I didn't have to give anything up to Thanatos in order to reurn. Although, it still took three days."

[Open] April Comes She Will (April Catch-All!)

Probably a good idea. :D

also add a cw: body horror to that list

Whoops. i forgot that one. :(

no worries ;)

:)

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