trans_9 | inside the labyrinth walls, there lies a tiny child... [open]

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inside the labyrinth walls, there lies a tiny child... [open]

This was an illusion. Precia knew that; she herself had been the one to program the parameters for this particular place. Still, as she sat with the (false; she knew it was false, even if it felt real) sun at her back, a warm breeze blowing through the grass, it was all too easy to let herself believe it.

She smiled, picking daisies and braiding them together. "Alicia? Here you go." A small girl with blonde hair came over to her, and Precia crowned her with those daisies. "My pretty princess."

This couldn't last forever, she knew that perfectly well. But...as it was, she could stay a while longer.

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As Arf caught a familiar scent, one she'd never forgotten after such a long time, she couldn't help but investigate curiously. She knew who it belonged to; that she could never forget. But as she came upon the sight before her, she wasn't sure how to react. Part of her wanted to simply condemn the woman's foolishness, indulging in something that was long gone rather than trying to make something of what she actually still had.

But even with that thought in mind, she couldn't bring herself to disturb the happy scene. So she stood silent, just watching with a frustrated expression.

Precia didn't notice the familiar's presence immediately. She was too focused on the girl in front of her, the girl who she was helping make a second daisy chain. Alicia insisted - if she was going to be the princess, then her mother was to be the queen. She couldn't deny that request.

She turned after a moment, intending to pick one of the flowers, and it was then that she noticed Arf. So that one was here, too...but she didn't say anything. Precia merely glared, a glare that said 'get out and leave us alone.'

Arf's immediate inclination was to do just that; the glare sent shivers down her spine. She had been deathly afraid of this woman as a child, and in truth still was. But she couldn't afford to be. So she just glared back, making clear that she had no intention of leaving. But even so... she still wouldn't disturb the scene, not directly. That was... Fate's sister, in a sense. While it wasn't really her, Arf could still respect what Precia was doing even if she didn't agree with it.

So it was going to be like that? Of course, Precia wouldn't do a thing in front of her precious daughter, illusion or not. No, not at all. It would upset the girl.

"Play here for a minute, Alicia? Mama will be right back, she's just going to talk to the nice lady over there."

With that, she stood, brushing herself off, and walked over. "Are you here to tell me I should be playing with Fate? She's a grown woman now."

"No, that's not..." Arf trailed off.

Of course, in a sense, that was what she wanted to say. But when it was put to her like that, she came to realize just how ridiculous it sounded. What was it that Arf wanted, really? She was just as confused as Fate, if not as optimistic.

"How you spend your free time is your own business," she said, glancing at the illusion. "But I don't think this is good for you..."

"Can I not steal a moment's happiness? This isn't reality. I'm well aware of that."

There was an odd note of sadness in the mage's voice as she spoke. An unspoken wish, in its way. It would be far easier to just walk away and go back to the girl, lose herself in the illusion again.

"I'm hurting no one but myself, after all."

Arf's ears drooped a bit, unable to really protest the other woman's statements. But she still felt that this was wrong somehow. This escapism. She could of course just leave Precia to her devices. That's what she'd always done when she was younger, wasn't it? There was no need to pay her any mind. If she wanted to hurt herself, fine. So be it.

But her talk with Fate earlier sprang back to mind. Fate's hope that perhaps Precia could be healed, somehow. And Arf had agreed to do whatever it took to help.

"Why would you knowingly and willingly hurt yourself?"

"..."

That wasn't a question Precia had expected. A storm of emotions moved across her face - anger, disappointment, a flicker of sadness, rage. Why did she care? Why was she letting this woman, this failure, affect her? She didn't know.

"...I don't have to explain that."

She hadn't expected an answer, not really. This almost felt like the longest conversation she had ever had with this woman; at least, one that didn't involve blows. So what could she say? She wanted to help Fate. She wanted to help her get through to her mother. She would do anything to facilitate that. So why was it so hard?

"Fate's worried about you," she finally said, unable to come up with anything more eloquent.

"Is she now?"

There wouldn't be blows in this conversation. If it had been anywhere else, there might have been, but...not now. Even if this was an illusion of Alicia, and not the real girl, she could control her fury.

"She has nothing to worry about. I do not intend to ruin her life here. She's been making her own decisions for some time now, hasn't she?"

"I know that... that's not what I'm worried about!" Arf replied, before realizing her own verbal slip up. "I mean, what she's worried about..." she corrected, though the meaning of the slip was obvious. It would have been clear as day to anyone just how worried about the situation Arf was. Which was why she had to tread with caution.

"Fate's never cared about her own well-being when it comes to you. She wants to help you, that's why she's worried."

Fate shouldn't be here. She knew she shouldn't. As soon as she recognized the surroundings, she knew she should have stayed away...

But here she was. She was standing far enough away so that she wasn't disturbing the scene, but close enough to pick up on Precia's words. She was watching the scene sadly, with a hint of longing in her expression. Sure, she was adopted by a wonderful family, and she loved them dearly... but there was still a part of her that wished this could have been real.

The sound of footsteps made Precia turn. For just a moment, she frowned, but then...the illusion-Alicia smiled, and waved.

She had programmed the simulator to react just as the real Alicia would. And...that was how her daughter would react. She couldn't deny it.

"Fate. Say hello to your sister," she said, a moment later.

Fate almost, almost turned away when her mother spotted her, but froze on the spot when Alicia - the girl she was supposed to be, the girl who could have been her sister - waved. And when Precia spoke up, well... there was no way she could bail now, right?

So she approached the two, smiling a little as she crouched down. "Hello, Alicia."

The little girl waved again, then turned, going back to picking daisies and braiding them together. "I'm making you a crown, too!"

Precia turned and watched her with a fond smile, one that didn't leave her face immediately once she turned back to Fate.

"These are very impressive rooms, are they not?"

It was... strange, even temporarily seeing a hint of warmth in her mother's expression when she looked at her. Fate was so unused to it that she honestly wasn't sure what to do... so she just continued smiling.

"They really are. It's amazing how detailed they can be, even with only a small amount of information..."

Ed had been engrossed in thought, studying the materials he had been given when he wandered into the sensoriums, intending on using it for a moment. He paused at the sight of the large field as well as the mother and daughter playing.

"Huh that looks like..." he mused to himself, cutting the thought off.

For a moment as he watched the pair have their moment, Ed remembered a similar moment as the faint outlines appeared in front of him with a ghostly form of his own mother to the side, their voices a whisper on the wind.

They look both amazing, said the ghostly Tricia Elric as she bent over to look at the pair of toy horses created by alchemy. There were a couple more passing words before the pair faded away as the little Edward ran off.

"... some time for a memory to pass by," he said, standing a respectful distance away from Precia and Alicia, letting them have their moment.

Precia only heard the last part of that, but it was enough to make her look up and turn toward the young man. "That's an interesting way to phrase that," she said, tilting her head. "Memories passing by...not merely remembering."

Did these show everyone what they wanted to see, then? No matter. A memory was a memory; she wouldn't pry, in this case.

"Yeah, it's how the sensoriums act," said Ed, looking around at the peaceful looking field. "They respond to our intent, our memories. Everything constructed to how I or in this case how you remember them. I could eat my mothers stew in here if I wanted to."

Realizing he was getting sappy, he rubbed his head, embarrassed. "Sorry, I was just passing through. I'm Ed Elric, nice to meet you ma'am."

It's her...

Vivio had accidentally wandered into the Sensoriums after her time in the Library and had spotted Precia. She looked so happy. So peaceful. And the little girl...

Looking at Alicia reminded her of what she saw on the movie. And that, while Precia was calm and collected here...

...she hurt Fate-mama...

Vivio kept her emotions in check. She didn't want to disturb them and acting on her rage wouldn't be worth it.

...a little girl? On her own? Precia didn't recognize the child, but noted the hairstyle, the girl's heterochromatic eyes. A cute one, to be sure.

Of course, the illusion-Alicia couldn't leave her be. "Hi! I'm Alicia. Come play?"

A cluck of her tongue, and the mage stood. "Now, Alicia. What have I told you about just assuming everyone wants to play?"

Vivio couldn't help but blink at Alicia noticing her and wanting her to play. Part of her wanted to stay back and decline, but her inner child, the one who wanted to enjoy everything, overrode it.

"O-Okay...!" she said, smiling as she started to wander further inside.

That little girl was familiar. She looked like...

Alicia. Where had he heard that--?

"... She thought I was a failure. I looked like Alicia, sounded like her, even had a great gift for magic... but I wasn't the same. And she didn't like it."

Oh. Oh.

Superboy leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed as he looked in, watching a woman that clearly loved her daughter, wondering why it was that people could just...be the way they were sometimes.

"You're Fate's mom, aren't you." It wasn't hard to put the pieces together, and that little girl, that little girl was spitting the image of what she must have looked like when she was younger. And the name "Alicia"...

"I use the term as loosely as possible."

"..."

So, she had a reputation around this place already, even having hardly arrived? Tch. What an annoying thing, to have one's own place decided for them.

"Precia Testarossa. Yes, Fate is my daughter."

There shouldn't have been so much ice in the last word, but it was what it was. "And you are?"

Yes, Precia, you have a rep. Especially with Kon. After the Nightmare King's little debacle had Kon's clone issues on display for all and sundry to see, and Fate helped save him, the two of them realized they had a lot in common, and she told him a little bit about her life.

A little bit was enough for him to decide he didn't like you.

"Superboy. I'm a friend of hers."

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inside the labyrinth walls, there lies a tiny child... [open]

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