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Who: New arrivals and YOU.
What: The last group arrival day before things go weird again (more on that later.)
Where: Greenway Park Information Booth.
When: Mid-Afternoon, Sunday the 25h.
Warnings: None as yet.

You know how it goes. One minute, you're in your own world. You're minding your own business. Going about your day, or maybe you're in the middle of something very, very important. Whatever the case, whether you blinked or you turned around or what have you, you're not where you were before. The first thing you might notice are the sounds around you. It's loud. Crowded. Horns honk and people shout and there's just the constant buzz of activity around you as people play and walk through and hang out in the massive park you find yourself in.

You're in a city. A large, bustling city full of people and all the chaos cities bring.

And somehow, over the din and aggressive noise pollution, you hear someone call your name.

There's an information booth nearby, with a man seated inside, watching you with vague but warm interest over the rim of his newspaper. Motioning you over, he has a packet of information for you and as he does so, he states simply;

"Check your pockets." Unless you're wearing something that doesn't have pockets, in which case, the man will tell you to check the ribbon hanging around your neck. At the end of it is a key. Maybe it's strange to you, and it'll unlock one of the apartments in the buildings nearby. Or maybe it's familiar, and you'll find a shell of your home on the outskirts of the city.

"It would be in your best interest," the man says as he points out the packet of information and hands you an envelope full of money that seem to shift colors very subtly. "If you read all of the information I just gave you."

And he's right. It has where you'll live, where to find jobs, information on a housemate (if you have one) and information on the cellphone he hands you. And there's a box of cookies that taste exactly like your favorite from home, the first bite recalling fond memories of eating them with loved ones, or biting into one fresh from your favorite bakery.

Unless you're rude, in which case, he simply stares at you until you walk away. And remember, if you persist in your behavior, he simply shuts the info booth and no manner of physical or magical attempts will get it to budge in the slightest. Or damage it.

With your cookies and information in hand, he simply gives you a small nod and a half-smile that clearly say it's time for you to move on and he resumes reading his paper.

Welcome to Wechester City.

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"I've never seen a gold and silver butterfly before! What kind is she? But ah, yes, please, I would very much like to meet her."

With a smile, she gestured for Alice to hold her hand out as well, and if she did Adelita would hop from Rosabella's hand to Alice's, her wings fluttering as if waving to the younger girl. The silver spots seemed to only be on the underside of the wings, with smaller black spots decorating the upperside, but each flap of the wings still had the silver spots reflecting the light a little.

"She's a Queen of Spain fritillary. So I thought a Spanish name would be fitting for her."

Alice did just as she was instructed and her eyes widened at the little butterfly just doing it so easily.

"Oh, she's simply lovely... and so much nicer than the butterfly I met before!"

"Oh yes, Adelita is very sweet."

After another moment, Adelita flutters her wings to lift her into the air, just long enough before landing in Alice's hair.

"Aww, she likes you."

Alice tried to look up and follow where Adelita had landed but didn't want to move around a lot to disrupt the butterfly.

"Oh, I love butterflies. Ah let's see if I can- it's very nice to meet you both, Miss Adelita and Miss-?"

Luckily it didn't seem like Adelita was going to fly off any time soon, even if Alice moved a little bit.

"My name is Rosabella. What's your name?"

"My name is Alice Liddell," Alice offered a curtsy in greeting, careful not to bob her head too much lest she disturb the butterfly. "How do you do, Miss Rosabella?"

Rosabella was momentarily distracted by the girl's name, but she shook her head a little. It could be a coincidence, right?

Instead she returns the curtsy and smiled. "I'm well, thank you. Or...about as well as can be expected, given the circumstances."

She did seem to be taking the fact of being in another world rather well.

"How are you? Have you been in this place long?"

It isn't, which Rosabella will discover soon enough.

"Oh, several months now, I suppose. Time seems so much quicker here! Which is impossible, of course, I've not asked him to do something like that, we're not close enough friends. Ah, but I have been here long enough I know that the city isn't where we first arrived! We first came to a beautiful town by the ocean, a very sleepy sort of town. Then in a storm it all got carried away in a matter of days and then suddenly, we're here! Asking the people who live here won't do any good, they don't notice."

The way she talked about Time, more like a person than anything, had Rosabella wondering again, but it was learning about the change in the city that really had her curious.

"Really? So the city just...changed?"

"Oh yes, but that isn't that strange, cities change all the time, this one was just more instantaneous instead of long periods of time... though I do suppose it tends to be unusual for cities to change locations as well as appearances."

She found herself smiling a bit, despite how odd all this seemed. "Both are very good points. But you said that the people here don't even notice?"

"Well, WE notice," she gestured between the two of them. "But we could be by the beach one day, and here in the city the next, which is what we did, mind you. And they just claim it's always been that way! But I DO have the thought on that."

"That's a pretty drastic change," she said thoughtfully. Moving from a beach location to a city location would surely be noticeable. "What's your thought?"

"Well, I was thinking, in history books, you hear all the time about how an area was just a tiny town or little village and then centuries later after building and building and building, giant cities are formed." She made a tiny little circle with her hand before making a giant one with both arms.

"So what if when we go from one area to another, we're time traveling at SUCH a speed that WE know things are changed, but of COURSE the people here don't say anything. What took us days or nights took them centuries! And the people from before, who look just like the people of the past, they're the descendants of the people from the place before!"

While some people might think that was a strange idea, Rosabella simply nodded, because it made some sense to her.

"That's possible...but would the time traveling account for moving locations? You said the first place was a town by the beach, right?"

"Well... perhaps that's the Earth changing with it! Earth does change, does it not? But we could just be transported to a new location as easily as time travel. Both make equal amounts of sense to me."

"Oh, okay, I see what you mean. If enough time has passed, then the geography itself could have changed. Or there's a chance that the residents of the city might have had to move the location. It'd still be the same city, but the people had to change where it was set up for whatever reason."

That actually did make a lot of sense.

"That's fairy insightful."

Edited 2020-12-27 08:18 (UTC)

"Exactly so! A name is just a name, after all, so how terribly hard could it be to name things the same thing? If anything, it would be much easier to name something the same thing."

She blushed and then smiled.

"Well, thank you fairy much, miss!"

"Exactly. Or even change the name to something new whenever they moved to a different location."

It was an intriguing thought, and Rosabella returned the smile, even as her mind began to run through different thoughts.

"I wonder if we'd be able to look up something like that. After all, if it's the same city and just moved or changed the name, there should be a record of its history somewhere."

"Exactly so! Same town, different name." She tilted her head in thought at the question.

"Well, aren't most records stored in the town hall? Isn't that what it is for? Or perhaps the library?"

"Most likely." Thinking for a moment, Rosabella then nodded. "Those would be good places to start looking, anyway. I might try to see if I can find something after I'm able to look around a bit more."

"Well, then once you're more settled, I hope to see you around more often, Miss Rosabella! You and your butterfly!"

"Of course! Adelita and I would love to see you again."

Alice gave another curtsy.

"I'm sure we shall see each other again!"

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legacyofarose - 2021-01-06 08:27 (UTC) - Expand

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