Insanity Clinic For The Moderately Brandofandonitis Afflicted

[Medium he/they]

1 minute ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Emma inhales sharply "How? He died hundreds of thousands of years ago."

"My father researched things that changed everything. He's the reason pocket dimensions were discovered! He discovered secrets other people could only have dreamed of having! Your father..."

Calano looked back down at the smiling man in the vision.

"They were the closest of friends. Time works differently in pocket dimensions. I remember once..." He trailed off and waved his hand.

A thread, similar to Emma's appeared. It was much longer, and colored a shining onyx.

He moved the small bead to a spot in the back third of the thread and a vision appeared, from the point of view of presumably a young boy.

"When I was a boy, I went downstairs in the night for some water to drink. This happened multiple times, but there was a very specific time I remember. I came downstairs and got my water, then went to see what my father was doing."

The vision shows the young boy walking towards a door and opening it, peeking through. Inside was a man that looked like the man in Emma's vision, but his brow was creased in concentration. Another man stood behind him, speaking softly. The man behind Emma's father looked up at Calano.

"Calano? What are you doing out of bed, Blackbird?" He said.

Calano reached out to touch the image, a smile on his face. "That was his nickname for me. Blackbird."

[NameIess]

Lark scribbled all of this down, listening intently.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

10 minutes ago, CalanoCorvus said:

The vision shows the young boy walking towards a door and opening it, peeking through. Inside was a man that looked like the man in Emma's vision, but his brow was creased in concentration. Another man stood behind him, speaking softly. The man behind Emma's father looked up at Calano.

Emma gapes. "That's him. That's my father."

[Medium he/they]

Just now, The Wandering Wizard said:

Emma gapes. "That's him. That's my father."

"I told you!"

They turn back to watch the vision, and young Calano waves a hand at his father.

"Father!" He says, and walks up to him, "What are you working on? Can I see?"

Calano's father picks him up with a grunt, and they look at what Emma's father is working on. A small device, gray in shape about 5 inches long. It looks kind of like a pen.

But Calano's young eyes look instead at the picture on the desk. The picture is of a young girl, smiling brightly at the photo.

"It's been years," Calano whispers, "And I've looked at this memory so many times. I have no idea who that is. That girl, in the photo. I have absolutely no idea. Perhaps a niece, or a nephew, or just a stock image."

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

2 hours ago, CalanoCorvus said:

But Calano's young eyes look instead at the picture on the desk. The picture is of a young girl, smiling brightly at the photo.

 

Emma looks at the picture. "That picture looks familiar somehow. Hmmmm."

[Medium he/they]

1 minute ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Emma looks at the picture. "That picture looks familiar somehow. Hmmmm."

Suddenly, something clicked in Calano's mind.

He looked down at the picture. Then up at Emma.

Then down at the picture again. Then back up at Emma.

"Emma... I think that's you. Why else would it be directly in the line of sight of your father?"

He looked back down at the scene, at his father showing young Calano all the things he and Emma's father were working on.

"I had always wondered if someday I would meet that girl... I had a lonely childhood. It was me and my imagination. I thought that maybe, at some point, I could meet the girl in the photo, be her friend."

He looked back up at Emma.

"Now I'm more than that."

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

"Wait...." Bookwyrm said. "But if your father was researching pocket dimensions, how did he get from that to this? Why a Brandofandonitis clinic?"

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

11 hours ago, CalanoCorvus said:

"Now I'm more than that."

Emma smiles at Calano. "That you are. Now bring your timeline closer to mine, I have an idea."

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The rest of you are welcome to wreck havok have adventures in the clinic while this is going on.

 

[Medium he/they]

Calano waved his hand, and the timeline got a lot closer to Emmas. The vision of his father and her father vanished as the proximity between the two timelines decreased.

"What's your idea?"

Edited September 16, 2022 by CalanoCorvus

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

1 minute ago, CalanoCorvus said:

Calano waved his hand, and the timeline got a lot closer to Emma's. The vision of his father and her father vanished as the proximity between the two timelines decreased.

"What's your idea?"

"With our combined memories we can find out what they were working on and why." Emma's timeline moves closer to Calano's almost touching.

Edited September 16, 2022 by The Wandering Wizard

[Medium he/they]

The timelines touched, and wove together, creating a gold and black woven thread, with a shimmering bead of onyx and gold in the middle.

"Have at it then," Calano said.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

28 minutes ago, CalanoCorvus said:

"Have at it then," Calano said.

Emma moves the bead ahead a couple centuries and the scene changes. The room is dark and only lit by a candle. Emma and Calano's fathers are both hunched over the pen looking contraption, now plaited with lapis lazuli strips.

[Medium he/they]

Calano's father curses softly, and clicks a few buttons on a pad in his hand.

"Three centuries working on this, and we're missing the one thing we need to finish it. We're so close."

Emma's father looks up. "If this works, Emma, Wizard, and Calano will be safe. Safer than they could ever be."

Calano's father nodded, and looked at his wall, where there was a picture of a young Calano, his face covered in dirt, his black hair matted and chaotic.

"Yes, they will. Get a plan together. If we don't find the Artifice, we're screwed. We have to get it. Fast."

Emma's father looks at the picture of Emma, and reaches out to touch it.

"I'll keep you safe," He whispers, "You and your brother will survive. I promise."

Calano's father walks to the workshop door. "Come on, we have to prepare for the journey."

Emma's father walks over to join him inside, and the vision ends.

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

"I'm confused," Bookwyrm said as the vision ended.

[Medium he/they]

Calano stared at where the vision had been.

"I have so many questions," He said, "Where did they go? I don't remember much after they left. I knew they came back, and then they vanished a little while later."

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

40 minutes ago, CalanoCorvus said:

"I have so many questions," He said, "Where did they go? I don't remember much after they left. I knew they came back, and then they vanished a little while later."

Emma moves the dot to another point in the line, just a few years later.

They appear in a log cabin house, surrounded by mountains. 

Suddenly Emma's father appears in the entrance, bleeding from several small scratches. Emma's mother rushes to his side and lays her hands on him, healing the scratches.

"They must go." Says her father. "They're not ready yet." Replies her mother. "They must go. There is no other choice."

Emma and Wizard watch through the cracked door. Their mother senses them and closes the door.

The vision ends

"I never learned where my father had just come from."

[Medium he/they]

Calano moves the dot a fraction forward, and the vision appears again.

Calano's father ushers both Calano and a young Wizard out the back door of a house. Rushing across the yard, a roar echoes from the front of the house, and then Emma's mother and Emma appear. Calano grips his fathers hand as the roar sounds again.

Calano's father kneels, and looks him in the eys.

"Calano," He says, "Blackbird, go with Wizard and Emma. You can survive. I love you."

"Father," Calano says, "Where are you going?"

Calano's father does not answer immediately, but instead draws from his pocket a small cylinder, with blue stripes. He points it at the air and clicks a button.

"I'm staying," He says as a portal appears. What's on the other side, no one knows. "But you must go through."

Calano looks at the dark portal, then back at his father. "But... What about you?" He asks.

"Shh," Calano's father says, ruffling his hair, "Don't worry about that, Blackbird. I love you, but go with Wizard and Emma. Go with their mother, she will help you get settled, and then return."

The roar sounds again, much closer, and Emma's mother ushers them to the portal. Calano's father shouts, "Go! Now!" Before dashing back into the house.

Emma's mother guides them into the portal, and the vision ends.

Calano stares at the vision. "I haven't seen these memories in years. They aren't fun to think about. I know so little still."

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

1 minute ago, CalanoCorvus said:

Calano stares at the vision. "I haven't seen these memories in years. They aren't fun to think about. I know so little still."

Emma rests her head on his shoulder. "I know, I lived through them too. But all this was a long, long time ago." Emma pulls out a detector. "Still not safe to leave." She sighs. "Probably won't ever be able to leave this dimension."

[Medium he/they]

"It's been centuries since the Scourge. Almost a millenia. How long must we wait here until we can return?"

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plot thickening woo!!

 

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

26 minutes ago, CalanoCorvus said:

"It's been centuries since the Scourge. Almost a millenia. How long must we wait here until we can return?"

 

"I don't know., but we will return from our exile." Emma turns to Lark. "Do you have any other questions."

Edited September 16, 2022 by The Wandering Wizard

[NameIess]

5 minutes ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

"I don't know., but we will return from our exile." Emma turns to Lark. "Do you have any other questions."

"About a million, but right now I just want to know what happened after that vision ended. A general overview would be nice."

[Medium he/they]

Calano reopens the vision.

Young Calano, Wizard, and Emma step through the portal into a blank expanse. Emma's mother follows them through, then brings out a similar cylinder to Calano's father, but with yellow stripes, and clicks a button. The portal closes.

"Children," She says, kneeling down, "This will be your safe haven until it is safe to return to the World. There is a... Scourge underway, and we don't know when it will be safe to return. You must remain here. It is your own pocket dimension, and you may do with it as you please."

Emma and Wizard stare at their mother, dumbfounded, but Calano stares at where the portal was.

Emma's mother hugs her and Wizard. "I love you both. So, so much."

Then she turns to Calano. "You have power, Calano. You were born with it. It will guide you in tough decisions. Your father loves you, and your mother would have loved to see the brave young man you've become."

Calano begins to cry.

Emma's mother brings him into a hug. "Don't cry, Blackbird. It'll be okay. Your family and friends love you. You'll be safe here."

She stands, and clicks a button on the yellow-striped cylinder. A portal appears. She walks up to it.

"Remember what I said." She says, turning back. There are tears in her eyes. "Trust your instincts." She steps through the portal and disappears.

The portal vanishes.

The children stare. Then they sit. And they weep.

The vision ends.

Calano closes the vision. "She left us here. And she went back to the Scourge. We never saw her or our parents again. We don't know what happened."

[NameIess]

Lark nodded. "So then you all lived happily together, until eventually Emma started the whole dark magic thing?"

[Medium he/they]

"There was a looooot more trauma after no one came. But we eventually got this going, and then the whole Emma-Nethergrim stuff started."

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

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first things first, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE EMMA AND CALANO TOGETHER LIKE EEEEEEE. Another, the dream and vision stuff was absolutely heartbreaking. you guys are the best.