Scars Are Souvenirs You Never Lose / The Past Is Never Far [January Event: Start]

[buttercup_eater]

[[ Event information and discussion can be found here. ]]

Once again, it is midnight when the chill sets in.

A bitter wind picks up, circling the castle island, rattling the windows and branches of the trees. Within moments the wind is bringing in heavy, wet snowflakes, which cover up everything outdoors in thick white layers. The river and fountains all freeze up, as clear and solid as the glass hill in the middle of the courtyard. Frosty ferns glaze the outside of the windows, the leaves vanish from the trees, and by morning the exterior of the castle has transformed into a sparkling winter wonderland.

The interior of the castle has transformed too. Somehow by morning the structure is in much better condition than it usually is, and while many rooms are freezing cold, somebody kindly seems to have lit fireplaces everywhere in the castle, keeping most of it at a pleasantly warm temperature. Furthermore, it's clear there's a seasonal celebration of some sort going on: the castle is decked out everywhere in greenery, ribbons, candles, baubles, dried fruit, colorful paper, all kinds of cheery old fashioned decorations. The ballroom and kitchens are filled with delicious food: juicy roasts with stuffing, plum puddings, mashed potatoes with gravy, fruit cakes, hot apple cider, pies of mince and pumpkin and apple, cookies of every sort imaginable, and on and on and on.

The air is thick with sweet and savory scents and sometimes, one might even catch the sound of people singing in the distance- but no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to find the source of the music.

And when they wake up, many of the castle residents won't be the same people that they were when they fell asleep.

* * *

( tw: child abuse )

young-ster

[voidster]

Ah, there's nothing like waking up in a strange bed, with your young son missing, to get a body moving. Sans was right there snuggled up against his father's bones when he fell asleep, and Gaster's always been a light sleeper, he should have woken if the little one had gotten up during the night.

Whatever analogue to adrenaline monsters have is surging through him as he rolls off the bed and takes note of his surroundings. Just a dusty-looking bedroom--true dust, not monster dust. Very much not his own bedroom, and there's no sign of Sans.

No one is happy with this.

He's out the door as quickly as he can be, a man on a mission. Once he steps outside the door, it's obvious he's no longer in the Underground. There's nothing below Ebott remotely like the castle, and isn't that lovely? He's not in the capital, he's not in his home, his barely-past-preschool son is missing, and he has no goddamn idea how or why he's... outside the barrier? How in the world?

He allows himself mere seconds to wonder about this before he forces himself to move. Time to really get searching. It's not safe to teleport around when you're not sure where you are, and this is not any place he's remotely familiar with, so he goes on foot. All the decorations and such that he passes are observed, and mostly ignored. Seriously, it doesn't matter. Only one thing really matters: finding the babybones or someone, anyone, he can ask.

Until he finds the kiddo, Gaster will be pacing the corridors, frazzled. The cracks in his skull are still there, his right eyesocket is still eternally winking, but he's not entirely the same. Only his left hand has the distinctive hole in the palm. His clothing is just real clothing, not void-goo acting like skin pretending to be clothes. Looks like someone sleeps in his work clothes. What a nerd. Black labcoat, white turtleneck sweater underneath, black pants, plain dark blue shoes... he's never been a colorful dresser and he never will be.

Let the little children come to me

[lostinmyway]

There have been lots of exciting changes in the castle all of a sudden. It got very cold and snowy (she'll have to go help her flowers get ready for bed in the garden), and it looks like Christmas! Ever since her friends in Luceti introduced her to the holiday, she's enjoyed it a lot. She'll have to get started on gifts for her friends as soon as she can!

But the biggest change in the castle is all the children who have come here. Many of them seem a little lonely and cold and a little scared. And so Grune has made it her mission to be sure all of them have warm food, a cosy place in front of the fireplace, and--if they want it--lots of hugs and kisses and kind words to help them feel better.

As for the adults? Well, it's important for them to feel good, too. She'll make sure to share all those nice things with them. Love is for everyone, not just children.

[First part locked to notsogrimreaper] What does it take to love a child?

[mediadarling]

Mettaton doesn't sleep--he doesn't even need to charge these days--but even the greatest showman the castle has ever known needs some quiet time every once in a while. These days, he usually spends it in bed with his boyfriend, Ryoji, which is a great improvement from the days he went off by himself. His own company is wonderful, of course, but adding in Ryoji makes it positively divine.

Tonight, he's paging through a book on fashion through the ages he'd found in the library (fashion through the Middle Ages, it seems--a pity he couldn't find anything more up to date). It's interesting enough, he supposes, but not so interesting that he doesn't notice the cold wind that sweeps through the castle and drops the temperature a good double-handful of degrees.

Automatically, he looks over to his beloved partner--and yelps. Where a handsome black-haired young man had been resting next to him, there's now...an adorable black-haired child.

*

The next morning, castle-dwellers will find Mettaton on a quest: a very different quest than usual, as a matter of fact. Rather than searching out finery, glitter, and sequins, he's on the hunt for warm clothes. Not for him--he barely notices the temperature. Instead, those would be for the child on his back, who's definitely the calmer of the pair. Any tips on where to find said clothes or gifts of sweaters would be very welcome.

[event] Level...down?

[collectyourfriends]

 There's a green-and-yellow something streaking through the hallways, a massive trail of silver tinsel and the smell of static following in its wake.

 A few moments after that, there's the sound of someone yelling in the distance--a child. 

"No! No no no no no Sparks no stop!"

( mild tw for blood and animal attacks )

[event][open] past brought forwards

[exuviiated]

note: due to not wanting to hurt myself too much emotionally, narration will be correct. aaron still looks very much like not a boy though.

He wakes up somewhere he's never seen before. He's not even in a bed-- he's in a pile of blankets in what appears to be a giant library. There's a backpack next to him, a sketchpad filled with notes, and...

nothing much else. He picks himself off of the blankets and adjusts his shirt, and then makes his way out of the library and through the halls. It's early morning, early enough that the sun isn't gracing the horizon in more than a pale blue glow visible through the windows. Handling stairs is a struggle, as always, with his bandages-- he manages to reach each open room with little more than strained breath. He ends up in the kitchen. No surprises there; it's warm and as clean as a castle kitchen can get, and it's more likely people will filter in throughout the day. He grabs himself a cup of some sort of juice (cranberry, a sip confirms) and sits himself down on a stool in the corner, and waits.

(cw child abuse) cold war kid

[characlysmic]

Chara wakes up curled in a little dark attic and they don't know where they are, which isn't an altogether new experience but instead of the the underside of a bridge or the stink of a dark allyway they find themselves in a strange dark castle like something out of a cartoon. Or a movie. Its magical, and they stare in wonder for more then a few minutes as the festive majesty of the likes they've never seen before before the deep discomfort of reality sinks back in. 

Their body feels small and weak in a way that feels unnatural for some reason, they can't stop picking at their familiar blue and pink sweater but more then the unnatural strange buzzing in their head, is the fear that they don't know where they are....

Their mother doesn't know where they are......

They know they'll be in trouble, they just know it, but they can't let her down. Their hands twitch, and the move to scratch a blistering scab on the side of their face. Still feels wet. They shiver and scratch harder, setting off, bare feet padding onto cold stone. 

The now eight year old Chara can be found nervously searching the castle with a desprete ferver or sitting quietly in wait in one of its many rooms.