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pixieledmemes2025-05-16 12:28 am
Test Drive Meme #3
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You wake up at a party.
You're not sure how, exactly, you got here. You may have just been walking in the woods or at a meeting for work or doing any other normal activity for you. But you know you weren't supposed to be at this party, you're fairly certain.
Anyone you ask about it will say the party is for you. You and the others also waking up and looking confused. Further questions will lead to the partygoers insisting you have something to eat. You're starving and others are eating the food without repercussion, so you figure there's no harm in a bite. You finish your portion.
It's another garden party near a large hedge maze in the middle of the night. With his penchant for games the Ruler of the Spring Court decided it would be nice to hold an actual game for all the Adopted present. None of that dreidel game a couple of parties ago. This time, he wants more spectacle with higher stakes. Forced to participate and host aspects of this gathering as well, the Ruler of the Dark Court wanted nothing to do with this, so he figured his participation in itself is for the party to happen at night, during his rule, when his mood is at its most pleasant.
Of course, there is no shortage of light sources such as candles and torches, much to the Earl's chagrin, as well as no shortage of food. This time, the fae decided to try their hand on some pasta. They heard it's a good delicacy from the mortal plane. Thing is, sauces look and smell bizarre. One's purple, while another's bright pink, and they taste fruity, as well as flowery, much like the cookies from the last gathering.
As the party winds down and everyone's eaten, a tall, stately woman stands up and speaks. You feel her voice more than hear it.
I am the Lawspeaker of the Fae, elected by Seelie and Unseelie alike, and you are all, now, subjects of Faerie. You cannot leave this realm once you have eaten our food, and even if you could, there is no saying how much time has passed back where you're from. Your loved ones are likely dead, your problems have likely played out. We require assistance in various matters, and each of you has been chosen for your talent and skill. You will be adopted by one of the Seelie or Unseelie Courts based on your strengths and personality. Your Court will decide what to do with you from there.
As suddenly as she stood, she sits back down.
So, what about this hedge maze that seems to have appeared out of nowhere and looming quite eerily beside this night's gathering? For one, peculiar noises can be heard whenever one's near its entrance. From the rustling of leaves to a woman crying, everything seems to be coming from inside.
Of course, the Adopted's participation is required and paramount. Anyone who refuses will be met with harsh penalties and consequences, whatever those may be. They also hint of a prize to anyone who comes out victorious on the other side. It's unclear what it is, though.
The fae know that while the Adopted have been very useful so far, they are also vulnerable and susceptible to fear, so to mitigate that, they have some colorful shots on a table marked LIQUID COURAGE near the entrance to the maze with such effects:
- Gold: Essentially a strong drink that gives you profound energy for 24 hours.
- Red: Downing this will make you feel warm like an aphrodisiac.
- Blue: Basically functions like a normal tequila shot. Or three. Comes with a little bag of salt.
These shots are not compulsory for the Adopted to take, but they will be highly encouraged to do so before entering. Once inside, the rustling of leaves and the sounds of someone crying become louder and even more evident. There are also a few key things that seem to be very clear the longer an Adopted is within the maze's walls:
- The maze is moving. How it's doing it, nobody knows. But it appears to be alive somehow, much like the castle grounds, so finding a clear pathway is almost impossible.
- Whenever an Adopted turns right two consecutive times, they will see a more positive outcome from a terrible event in their lives. Lost someone? They're now here and alive. Gave up on a dream? You find yourself currently living it.
- If an Adopted turns left two consecutive times, they will see someone, a family member or a friend who's still alive and had a deep impact on their lives, bleeding and dead on the ground.
It would be great if no one else can see an Adopted during their most vulnerable, but since the maze moves constantly, another Adopted or two might be able to see them trying to parse out what they're seeing, even if their fellow Adopted can't see it themselves.
CW: dismemberment, body horror, forced body transformations, mild gore, asphyxiation, drowning of children, death
The Spring King only wanted some good-natured fun within the maze, but unbeknownst to him, some Unseelie creatures and Unseelie magic have appeared inside, threatening the safety of the Adopted traversing every nook and cranny. Surely this will not have any lasting consequences between the relationship of the Seelie and Unseelie court rulers. Not at all.
A few of these Unseelie beings and Unseelie magic roaming around the hedge maze that the Adopted will have a chance to meet are as follows:
- Manananggal: Capable of severing its torso from its legs, this vampiric creature usually preys on sleeping pregnant women and unborn babies. But not anymore. Due to magic put on it, this manananggal will strike anyone it comes across. Better pour salt on its severed lower torso once you find it, or else.
- La Llorona: Remember that woman crying? Well, somewhere in the maze alongside the eerie sounds of water flowing, you'll come across a weeping woman cloaked in white with her back turned against you. Be careful not to approach her because once you do, she'll try to choke you to death, reminiscent of how she drowned her own children.
- Jersey Devil: The first thing you'll hear once you turn is a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream then the sound of bat wings flapping. You better run as fast as you can to the other direction because this devil is out to attack anyone it sees on its path.
- A fountain: How odd. Running from the jersey devil or the manananggal might have made you thirsty so perhaps there's no harm in drinking from it. But just coming in contact with its water will make any Adopted soon realize they have transformed into an Unseelie creature.
Fighting off these creatures might be best with a fellow Adopted. After all, there's power in numbers. Just be careful not to die within the hedge maze. There might be some dire consequences.
You feel a vibration in your pocket sometime after the Lawspeaker addresses everyone. When you search for the source, you will pull out your Leaf, the device the Fae use to stay in touch with each other. Anyone who's used a smart phone will easily recognize how it works.
Greetings, Adopted. This is your Lawspeaker.
To be on theme with our festivities for tonight, we want to know a time in your life when you felt lost and wandering about. Perhaps the most compelling story will receive a reward from us.
feeling on hedge
When he comes across a young woman clutched to a dead body, he comes closer, leaning down just enough to rest a hand on her shoulder. ]
Listen to me. This is not real. It's only one of their tricks.
[ He's not going to force her to move one way or the other, but he's going to try anyway, fingers squeezing briefly. ]
Get up and keep walking. It will vanish, trust me.
no subject
But when Erik utters those words and his fingers squeeze her shoulder briefly, reality comes back for a bit and Lorna looks up, tears rolling down her cheeks. ]
How do you - [ Her brows furrow as she looks down at "Marcos" and then back at Erik in disbelief. ] How do you know this isn't real?
no subject
[ He says it with even more certainty because he has seen someone in this maze that he never could. Someone who has been dead for a decade now. He is not in the mood to let the Fae toy with his mind yet again. ]
Come with me, you'll see. It will go away. Whoever this man is— he isn't really here.
no subject
She glances down once more, memorizing every feature on her lover's face. It takes a few moments, and a lot of her strength and courage, to slowly return him to the ground and stand up.
And as if on cue, Marcos is gone. ] You're right. [ He says softly, anger beginning to simmer within her. ] How dare they do this?
no subject
So he isn't surprised when the body fades as soon as she gets to her feet. As if the moment she decided to let go, it ceased to exist. Erik takes a deep breath, trying not to think back to the image on Nina fading away. Then he looks to her. ]
They play these tricks on us sometimes. I don't know if there's a purpose to it, or if it's just their concept of entertainment. They don't... think the way we do.
[ Which isn't to say any of this is either right or wrong, just that they can't really judge based on their own sense of morality. The Fae are bound to different rules, different notions. ]
We should keep going. [ He can imagine this must have been a lot for her, but it's not safe here, and even less so if they stay in one place too long. ]
no subject
Gritting her teeth, hands curling into fists, her powers begin to slowly manifest. Having ferrokinesis, magnetic fields around them are responding to her emotions, and it's probably something Erik will most likely be able to pick up on. ]
They don't think, period. [ She closes her eyes briefly, and she sees the image of Marcos bleeding once more. ]
I want to pay them back for that.
[ For kidnapping her, for throwing her into this maze, for showing her an image of her beloved dead when it's not even real. ]
no subject
But she will feel it too, perhaps stronger than her own abilities, or at least more sudden in the way that he takes hold of those fields. He could simply eliminate them, but instead he holds them steady, so that she can't affect them. He doesn't know how she's doing this, or how strong she might be, but he doesn't want to risk it if she's not capable of full control over her own emotions. ]
Stop that. You are not the only one who was brought here against your will. And believe me, there are those even stronger who still cannot lay a finger on the Fae.
[ Basically: don't do anything stupid. ]
no subject
But it could also mean one thing, who this man is exactly. It all comes back to her now, why this man looks terribly familiar. Feels terribly familiar. She has seen one photograph from her mother all those years back. Of this same man.
Lorna shakes her head, taking a step back, disbelief clear in her expression. ]
No, this... this couldn't be. You're- [ And she reaches inside her pocket for her tiara that she made out of Magneto's emblem. She looks down at it then with wide eyes, back at Erik. ]
You're Magneto.
no subject
He remembers then, talking to Teddy about something in particular. A daughter that he has, in his reality. Someone who has the same powers that he does. It clicks into place and the realisation washes over him in a way so overwhelming that Erik can't even draw breath.
He looks down to the tiara in her hand, then back to her face. Still unfamiliar. He hasn't met her, after all; didn't even know she existed until he came to this place. ]
Lorna.
no subject
How could you leave me? How could you not come back for me? she wanted to ask. Has asked multiple times growing up. The walls of her teenage bedroom only echoed them back to her. Now, there's someone to answer, and he even knows her name. And it squeezes something deeply fierce inside the very recesses of her being hearing it from him.
And yet even with the longing, of childhood memories rising into her consciousness that were long buried into the ether, anger begins to bubble and it's evident in her voice. The world might've hated Magneto, she told herself on her 14th birthday, but she hated him more. ]
How do you know my name?