EVENT #006 AFTERMATH LOG

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: December 19th to the end of the month.
WHAT: Event aftermath, Winter Solstice, Christmas.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Character death, self-sacrifice, drug use. Further notes at end of log.

> EVENT #006 AFTERMATH LOG

Zerzura's demise is a very near miss. Three out of four of the bombs detonate, with numerous Mycenaean guards' lives taken as a result of the assault. It's probable—even likely—that numerous Displaced were injured as a result of this attack. Just as the last bomb seemed likely to go off, everything stopped. As in: the scene ended, shifting, putting all of the Displaced to sleep. Zerzura won't end. Or will it?

The return from Zerzura will feel like waking up from a long nap. Instead of anyone waking up in their beds, they will find themselves on the ground beside the man-made river that runs down the center of New Amsterdam. The ground beneath them will be moist with recent rainfall. Anyone who was still in the throes of a fantasy and believing themselves to be a part of Zerzura will find themselves tossed out of that existence. Anyone who died at the precipice of the spear will still recall their actions vividly: their mind and body hitting a point in which it was finite, slipping away. There may be some room for doubt regarding their deaths. After all, they're very much alive now.

There are two constants among the Displaced when they observe themselves and others: that all of their chests are glowing with that familiar blue glow, and they'll all experience a feeling of serenity. This feeling won't come from any of the Displaced themselves. Much like the intrusion of the empathy bond, it will feel as if it's coming from elsewhere. The problem is that it's always there: there is no way of disconnecting, at least for now. The good news is that the serenity will begin to fade within the next day, and with it, the blue glow will go away as well.

All of the Displaced can't remain at the riverside. If they linger too long, it will begin to rain again. The rain itself will only be a light misting against their faces at first, before turning into a heavier downfall. If they're wary of returning to their lives initially because of the blue glow, they'll soon find that the people of New Amsterdam seem to look away from them as they trot through the city to return to their lives. This is a temporary sensation, seeming to have overtaken the city's citizens for the time being. Within a day or two, the blue glow will be met with the same paranoia that was fostered by the UN following the abduction of Kurt Fischer.

What can they do now? Aside from the feeling of serenity, little will have immediately changed for the Displaced. The best thing they can do is try to return to their lives as if Zerzura never happened.

Some things to check in with, though?

WORK. Upon realizing that the Displaced disappeared yet again, El worked overtime to make sure that all of the Displaced wouldn't lose their jobs. After all, that would mean they'd likely have to give up their housing, and Morningstar would need to financially step in to help. Not all of the places of employment will accept these excuses, especially since El can't put together a doctor's note without it promptly being verified as falsified. It's ultimately up to anyone's discretion over whether their character lost their job.

CHANGES. Some of the changes will appear out of nowhere: a dream that's shared, or a memory that's passed on rather unwillingly. It's time to explore what's happened, and even theorize as to why this has happened. And those objects that were the core of remembering who they were, back in Zerzura? They're permanent fixtures from now on. And what about those Union Attacks? For now, they may have an interesting place in the fighting rings. Time to convince the people running those shows to start including doubles matches.

PLANT LIFE. All around New Amsterdam, plants will begin to grow. These plants are varied, and they'll make an appearance anywhere that they might be allowed to grow. Is that a sink that's frequently full of water? Now it's mysteriously stopped up by a plant that's growing through the pipes. While all this plant life may seem like a miracle, having plants growing in every part of the city will quickly prove to be a problem.

HOLIDAY SEASON. The good news about everyone's trip to Zerzura is that they didn't miss Christmas—or rather, the December 25th edition of it. The city is still covered in Christmas trees and ornamentation. The stadium is still hosting a holiday market.

> WINTER SOLSTICE

In the days leading up to the Winter Solstice, there will be an uptick of paintings around New Amsterdam hinting as to where this year's party will be held: Sunpeak Garden. While there won't be any official notice, anyone interested or curious is free to visit this location on the day of the Solstice (December 21st) to see what's going on, and it will go on for the next three days, ending on the morning of the 24th. As they draw closer to the location itself, they'll find the botanical garden secured by a large, overarching tent, preventing rainfall from getting into the garden itself. On the air, there will be the scent of something being smoked—which they'll soon learn is a set of goats that seem to have been acquired by whoever put on this shindig.

Unlike many other events around New Amsterdam, this seems to be more private in nature. There is an unspoken understanding that beyond the paintings, there will be no social media posts. Inside of the garden, there will be a lot of plants and decorations carefully molded into sacred geometric shapes. Despite the unofficial nature, whoever put this event together definitely spent their time doing it. This Solstice party isn't a spontaneous thing, and anyone who goes will hear about the previous parties and how the proprietor does his best to make everyone happy.

Anyone who went to the Harvest Festival or Insomniac's Ball will see a lot of the same people working it, complete with some familiar tattoos. They'll be eager to welcome in any of the Displaced, especially any of the ones who tend to be featured in the shrines around the city.

Once everyone's here, they're welcome to enjoy themselves. Under some of the canopies of trees, there will be beds and futons, giving people places to rest. Some of these will be claimed, so anyone who's eager to stick around for a few days might want to get dibs. Otherwise? It's time to enjoy what's been put together:

FEAST. There will be a feast for the next three days. Aside from the smoked goats, there will be a lot of goat cheese and vegetables. These are the people who put on the harvest festival, after all. There will be a lot of pickled vegetables out on tables, salads, and everything else. Aside from cheese for snacking, anyone can partake in some delicious berries (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries) and nuts (walnuts, pecans, peanuts, and almonds—despite the difficulty in getting most of these in New Amsterdam). There will also be figs, because of course there are figs.

FLOWER CROWNS. To go with the more laidback flair of this event, there will be flower crowns available for everyone. They will look more Christmas-like in spirit, like small little wreaths to go on everyone's heads.

ALCOHOL. Of course, what kind of Solstice or Yule event would it be without alcohol to imbibe? There will be mulled wine available, as well as the delicious apple-flavored beverage of wassail. It seems as if these two things never run out. For anyone avoiding alcohol, there will also be some sparkling grape juice and apple juice.

PSYCHEDELICS. Undoubtedly also inspired by Yule celebrations of old, anyone can partake in some species-specific (and at a safe dosage) amanita. Primarily available as a tea, anyone can drink this pleasant beverage and have a good time together.

MISTLETOE. There will be spots all around the botanical garden where the decorators took good care to make the mistletoe stand out. Surrounded by little lights, no one will be able to miss them. That means they can be easily avoided, if that's what someone would prefer!

BALL PROPRIETOR. While he's not hiding that he put this on, he's just as mysterious as before. If anyone wants to catch his eye at this event, they can. They'll need to stand out to get him to talk to them. To do this, reply below! Ball will definitely be interested in any Displaced trying to catch his eye, but it's still up to them to go through the motions.

> CHRISTMAS

As the Solstice party comes to an end, it'll be time to focus on Christmas itself. Around New Amsterdam, this is a deeply commercial holiday. Since most of New Amsterdam's citizens prefer to celebrate Sinterklaas, the day of Christmas itself largely emphasizes purchasing access to Christmas movies and giving gifts to anyone who had been forgotten earlier in the month. For new couples, Christmas Eve acts as a romantic occasion, giving them the chance to spend some time alone. Restaurants around the city will have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day specials and feasts—though these will be very expensive to enjoy.

> GRINCH INTERLUDE

Once reports start to hit the news about the rapidly healing atmosphere, a strange cypher begins to appear in the replies of people's posts on Cooltalk. This misfire appears at random and without a pattern. While some of the Displaced will get hit on their Cooltalks, they won't be among the majority by any means. How to get ahold of 100342? A reply might do the trick, or it might not. Drop a message in the questions thread with ideas!

Then again, this message more of a simple response to a slight than anything else, most likely recognizable to the displaced, who are familiar with the cipher's formula:

200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518
200805 02011414051819 1506 200805 11091407 1506 08051212 04180123 031215190518

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Welcome back to the world of New Amsterdam proper, Larkers! This will act as the mingle log for the month of September since we didn't receive any applications this month. In order to plot out some aftermath, please head over to the CR Meme for the month of September! Our September calendar and Event #006 Aftermath are also up for perusing.

If you'd like to get your character in touch with Ball, please reply to the comment below with how they'd like to stand out! Ball, like all of our NPCs, will act as a means to an end to uncover plot details. With the gates excursion on the horizon, we wanted to make him available for all of the playerbase. Due to time constraints, this means that Gaby won't be available for this log.

If you have any questions about event aftermath, please hit the thread on the Aftermath Post here. If you have any questions about this log, go to the questions thread on this post!

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[gasping]

[ caroline has had this dream before. the hallway, a stand-in for the seemingly unchangeable aspects of her life, has always been the same. it boxes her in and keeps her caged to its whims, not allowing for secondary exits or last-minute escapes. the doors she comes through always lock behind her; there's no reason to double back to check. they will be locked, no use tugging on them or trying to break them down. no matter how strong she is, they won't give.

and while it's not always damon leering at her at the other end of this hall, it usually is. he's a familiar face, an easy stand-by; he represents so much that she cannot address in her waking hours. the feeling of being controlled, of being manipulated, of being abused — it all generates that same rushing fury in her veins, and in her dreams, damon is an easy way to fight it.

but there's never been anyone else. no innocent bystanders, not even a body dangled between them, bloody carrot on a stick, no audience. to see clarke, to hear her, is stranger still. caroline freezes in place, hair whipping around her face as she turns towards the sound of the noise. ]

What are you doing here?

[ it's not safe for you, clarke. you can't fight back. she wants to tell her, but the words don't come. ]

[strove]

The dreams. Where we first met. [To Clarke, that feels like ages ago and just yesterday at the same time. That's the weird bind of living parallel lives, but one life was much longer. Right now, Clarke assumes that this is much the same scenario as before, and that if they leave this building, they'll either end up somewhere else in Caroline's life or in New Amsterdam.

Or that facility. The one that Spinetail was clearly a replica of.]

They must be happening again. [That means that this could be dangerous. Clarke glances at Caroline, wary. She's aware of where her gun is, and what she can do here.]

Caroline, why is Damon here? [Here but not here. Aside from the obvious.]

[gasping]

[ the dreams? it seems preposterous at first, and yet, it only takes caroline's mind a moment to agree. this is a dream, isn't it? she hadn't thought of it as one, but as the thought comes to light, the landscape begins to settle, transitioning from hazy memories to solid ground beneath her feet, dark lines and sharp corners anywhere she looks. ]

He's always here.

[ maybe not always, but enough of the time that it feels like always. he's a constant in her memories, an imposing figure on some of the most prominent peaks and valleys of her human life, a thorn in her side in her vampiric one. the representation of so many things — and still, he's missing something. or someone. he needs stefan beside him to balance things out, but caroline hasn't dreamt of him yet.

not in new amsterdam, anyway. ]

Be careful.

[ because she knows this dream by heart, now. if they close the gap, damon will approach; if she fights, he will retaliate. she doesn't mind fighting him, but she doesn't want clarke to get hurt. not again, not like last time.

and though caroline is more steady these days, she doesn't trust damon to be. ]

[strove]

Why would Damon hurt you? [The question comes swiftly. Clarke's belief in the man may be based on a few brief conversations, but she had trusted him. Believed that he was open minded and willing to talk. They drank together, and that could speak volumes. But her question is more filler than anything—evidence that there is something that she doesn't know.

Her brow is permanently furrowed forward, eyes passing over the walls of her surroundings. She can be careful. She will be careful. But there's more that she has to do here, more that she has to think over.

She falls into step alongside Caroline. They'd do this together.]

I didn't know this version of him, did I? He hid it. [Trusting Caroline's perception. Clarke isn't foolish enough to believe that she can protect her from her nightmares, but there's something to be said for solidarity. She learned the valuee of that when Monty came to her in her subconscious and gave her life.]

[gasping]

He's good at that.

[ deceptively charming, effortlessly personable; it's no surprise, in retrospect, that caroline fell as hard as she did. she didn't even need the benefit of compulsion at first. damon had been the bad boy replete with just the right dosage of fast cars and sweet nothings, already worming his way into the mystic falls town council as a sworn vampire hater — of course caroline had fallen for that package, hook line and sinker.

it had only been once he started bossing her around (and, yes, drinking her blood) that the compulsion really came in. and though she's immune to it now, clarke is not. she needs to know what she's getting herself into, because telling her to run is likely only going to trigger damon's predator instincts.

and caroline likes clarke too much to let her become someone else's lunch. ]

Hurting people. Taking advantage. [ in the distance: damon's voice, repeating her words, that infuriatingly mocking tone like nails on a chalkboard. caroline's jaw tightens. ] Manipulating.

[strove]

[A few pieces begin to come together in Clarke's mind. If Damon knew about Caroline and Clarke's friction, he might've wanted to understand where Clarke was coming from—or worse. And while she knows that the extent of her powers can protect her in the dreamspaces or in Zerzura (which may be one of them, she hasn't determined whether it is or isn't), she also knows that they wouldn't help in reality.

But this is a dream, isn't it?

More than that, Clarke is completely lucid. She can tell that the logic of this world might not work in her favor—but that's because she isn't in control. She thinks of how it worked when she was dodging Josephine, or trying to put a stop to the loss of control of her mind. Josephine didn't have a proper grip on Clarke's mind, but Clarke did. She could've done better about organizing or evading if she had experience like Josephine did. Couldn't she?

Clarke turns on Caroline, putting her hands on the other woman's shoulders.]

This is your dream. You can make him go away. Make him leave like he was never there. [Whereas Caroline seeks to protect Clarke from her nightmare, Clarke seeks to protect Caroline instead. Headstrong and controlling. These are words that can certainly define both of the blondes.]

[gasping]

[ in caroline's mind, the only way out of this dream is through. she has to fight damon — a fight she knows she can win, because she's won it every other time, but it still must be done. there's no escape route or backdoor, there's no magic phrase that makes him disappear.

but clarke seems to think there will be. clarke, damn her, and her unwavering faith in possibilities, if not by positivity then sheer force of will. clarke believes, and for a moment, caroline does too. or maybe she's too exhausted by the repetition of this dream to fight her and the man at the other end. either way, she'll try. ]

I want to leave.

[ but she understands what clarke means. take charge, instead of react. bend the dream to her own will, rather than be paralyzed or controlled by it. to rewrite the page, as bonnie might have said.

so, to damon, she offers: ] I don't want to fight you.

[ she's tired of fighting. tired of arguing and bickering and feeling trapped by her own out-of-control emotions. she'd fought with clarke, she'd fought with damon, she'd fought jyn and marcos for trying to help her — but she doesn't have to keep fighting. she can be better than this. ]

I just want to move on.

[strove]

[Find a way out. Even if it's through sheer will. Through the need to do something. Damon stands here as a threat, and Clarke can only guess how it's going to end. Despite her optimism, something that she weaponizes because she's not allowed to give up, she assumes the worst of where this goes: that it ends with Caroline hurt, with Damon being more of a monster than she ever guessed.

She doesn't like that end result. Seeing a friend get hurt? Being powerless to watch it? She's not interested. She's already had to watch Josephine ruin everything, and she hasn't even had the opportunity to get her life back on track.

Clarke huffs out a quick breath.]

How does this normally go?

[gasping]

I fight him. [ in her dreams, in her memory, the fight is the same. ] I won this fight.

[ when they fought in life, she means. when she was young and freshly turned and filled with rage and fury and vindication, caroline won the fight. damon was older, but she was angrier. ]

I could win it again. [ in new amsterdam, she'd had better blood supply. friends and allies who trusted her, people who wanted to make sure she survived. now, she had blood bags every week. damon had ... well, caroline still wasn't sure. had he fed at all? other than on her, the one time, she couldn't remember. ] I'm just tired of fighting.

[ a pause. ]

Does that make me weak?

[ clarke would know. clarke would tell her the truth, too. ]

[strove]

No. [Clarke doesn't need to deliberate over the question. It's one that she learned before Zerzura, before she returned to New Amsterdam. Clarke had given up fighting in a sense, and her conscious weighed out and kept her from giving up. She had to learn the difference. It's fine to be done with fighting. That doesn't make someone weak. It merely gives them a goal to work toward in the long term.]

Stopping one fight doesn't mean stopping all fights. The real fight is knowing that you aren't giving up, and seeing that. And knowing that no one wants you to give up. This fight? [She nods down at Damon. He feels like a shade of a person now.]

It's one you've already overcome. But life doesn't need to just be—about fighting. About surviving. It should be more than that. It's just that sometimes, that's the hardest lesson to learn.

[gasping]

[ as clarke talks, caroline tries to listen. to understand, not just to hear her, and to accept what she says as truth. to trust that clarke wouldn't steer her wrong, and to be willing to do whatever it takes to make her suggestion happen. only thing is: clarke's suggestion isn't to do something. it's to accept that she's already done the right thing. that, by not wanting to relive this fight, caroline is doing the right thing. she's growing up, she's getting better, she's learning.

there's a sense of relief that floods through her, a steadiness that grounds her steps, and caroline can't help the calm that seems to wash over her. a small, more certain smile at her friend seals the deal, and when she finally stops to look back down the other end of the hallway, it's with a bit of surprise that she realizes damon is already gone.

not lingering in the dream, not giving in to the cycle of rinse and repeat with her own personal demons, seems to be the answer it needed. ]

Clarke... [ she's touched, and grateful, and just so blessed with her friendship, it's no wonder caroline trails off, choosing instead to envelop the other in a hug that squeezes tight around her shoulders. ] Thank you.

conscience not conscious in the previous tags, the woe of tags on sleep dep

[strove]

[To be able to pass on a message from Monty is everything. But then, Clarke recognizes in that moment that she's also passing on a message from herself. That conscience taken shape hadn't truly been Monty, but what she had chosen to accept and idealize from his final messages to all of them. Doing better isn't only about being good or bad or trying to toe a line between one or the other. Doing better is about realizing what a fight is about, knowing that she can stand by her previous actions and not repeat them.

That's what Raven wanted to get through to her.

In that moment, she finally gets why Caroline was so resistant to her pushing. Caroline thought she needed to fight, needed to act as if she had done nothing wrong. Being challenged on that front had been hard. She can win—time and time again, she can win—but not everything is about the fight itself. Nothing has ever been about that.

It seems they both needed to learn it in their own ways. Internalize it and move on.

She's glad to be engulfed in the hug, not in the least bit resistant. That's because Clarke prefers to be tactile with her friends, showing her affection here. And it's easy, even with the threat of skin contact, even if Clarke knows that will likely ignite again. She doesn't feel anything messy or complicated.

No, all that will transfer is relief. Happiness. The feeling of being confident in knowing she is, bit by bit, doing better.]