Nephry Osborne

[On the 21st, Nephry wakes up young. Not so young as to know nothing of the world, but young enough that no real cracks have appeared in her beautiful vision of it.

Much of her day is spent navigating the strange and empty-feeling village without snow. Very few people seem to know what's going on, helpful signs or not. Nephry is not without the courage to ask around, but that's what everyone is doing. There must be a better way. That's how she gets lost in the library for much of the day, finding solace in stories from- other worlds? Other worlds really?

On the 22nd though she has found the only thing that really matters to her - the chance to be with Peony again, no matter how unusual the circumstances. Expect to see her exerting minimal effort to get him to go with her on a picnic. It's a thing she's read about.

Later on in the week, when she isn't spending every waking moment with her beloved or trying to avoid that other person from Auldrant on her trail, Nephry remembers something else she read about, never mind the few people who seem cognizant of mentioning it. Spirits. They sounded so much like the fonon sentiences, just with different names, and less...mystical and unreachable.

So Nephry finds herself both by the river in the southern part of the village, and north of her temporary home near a large important-seeming tree, sitting quietly and waiting for something to happen. When nothing does, it's hard to keep quiet.]

Hello? Is anyone there?

[[ooc: At the tender age of almost-23, Nephry is a romantic at heart and believes good things about the world and ties her hair up with a big ribbon. She is so in love with Peony that it might rot your teeth how sweet they are. And she's lost almost all of her cool diplomatic self.

Other days/times are totally cool in this post as well!]]

[Some say too much deep thought begets deeper problems.]

I've been thinking.

[Nephry has a piece of paper in front of her, as well as a book open to a marked page.]

Mm, I should say that reading has been making me think. Indulge me for a moment, if you will: there is a relatively small portion of our population living in this village that arrived more than three Luceti years ago. It's an easy number for me to choose, because I fall into that category as well. I don't know many of those sharing a 'cycle year' with me as personally as I might, but-

[Here she stops, taps the page of the other book, and tries a new direction. Included in her explanation is a description of the formula she mentions.]

Something I read about and didn't understand prompted a bit more research on my part. I'm interested in testing whether this...theory, I suppose, of mine happens to prove true. In another world, there is a kind of formula for determining how ready one is to accept the inevitable. I believe that, with some exceptions of course, one 'step' in this formula enacts itself in the space of one Luceti cycle year. [Then she illustrates what the heck she means by that, expanding upon a chart she found in her research.]

[A half-laugh. Actually it's quite a sad sound.] Doesn't that sound strange? And yet I remember being in complete disbelief that such things were possible, and then worrying about my friends and hating the Malnosso for what they do to us, and then wanting nothing more than to use our limited knowledge as some kind of wager for the chance to change-

And now...to a degree, I still feel all of these other things, and yet- [No. Perhaps it's best not to go into that so publicly. It's unbecoming of a governor for certain.] Well, now I'm asking the rest of you. No matter how long you have been here. Does this hold true for you?

[Taken silently within a few hours of one of her oldest friends disappearing, she didn't even have her journal on hand to chance an explanation. A quick one. It was too fast and too late and she was gone.

Over a week later, she wakes up in a greenish forest near some tended shrubs and trees - a cherry tree, says her thoughts, with no basis at all - and tries her best to look nonplussed until she can figure out what in the world is going on here. This is no Keterburg, and she's sure she went to bed in her quiet, frozen hometown just a few hours ago.

When she stands, slow and unfamiliar, one supportive hand brushes against a book bearing her name. So she opens it. Reads things from people she suddenly recognizes, all at once understanding the journal and the forest and the wings again.]

Luceti? [The word comes as a distant almost-whisper. In the journal's camera, Nephry is wide-eyed and scattered for an uncharacteristically long time; when she does regain her composure, she can't keep the surprised note out of her voice.]

Luceti? I...don't understand. How long...has it been since I left?

[[ooc: Thanks to some excellent genes, it may be hard to tell that Nephry's gained about ten years, physically, in the week she was gone. But she has - and has ten years of life and changes on Auldrant in memories to go with them! And ten Auldrant years is a very long time.]]

May I please speak with the individuals or group responsible for larger-scale construction projects? [The smallest, hesitant pause.] This house is now much too small for the number of people living in it. In the interest of staying together...we need more space.

I realize everyone is a bit busy and preoccupied at the moment. Please don't feel rushed. It's only a conversation, about plans.

How's my Nephry?

Feel free to inquire about or reinforce my credibility/headcanon decisions/shuttershades.

While I can't speak for other worlds, in Auldrant we celebrate the "new year" in the middle of winter, shortly after the longest night. It's a bit different from the way things work here...but regardless, I am curious as to how many other worlds share a similar tradition.

[filtered to the Auldrant folks with whom she has made conversation]

Would you like to have dinner, at this house, for the new year? We have some new arrivals, and I think it might be good for all of us to visit with each other. ...You are, of course, free to decline. It's just a thought.

[and further filtered, away from Asch and Luke]

...And to an extent I thought we might...be able to celebrate. Even if time here is a bit different.

[Then? Then she's out and about town, doing things. She'll stop at the bakery, the grocery store...briefly at the battledome, pausing at the programming station but not really doing anything there. Once, she thinks about visiting Professor Nebilim, but she can't be sure of how late the woman stays at the school after class, and she wouldn't want to interrupt.

In short, she's a little bit of everywhere, ending that evening at Good Spirits. For a change of pace. And a drink, of course. Facades can be such a strain on the system.]