Open

[quis_ut_deus]

Who: Michael and YOU
Where: The playground. (Other locations possible; PM me and we can work something out.)
When: Friday, March 21st - Sunday, March 23
Rating: PG for now, to be updated as needed.
Summary: Michael falls victim to the age-down effect of the playground, both in (borrowed) body and in mind.
The Story:

Though the appearance of anything new in Wonderland generally means unfortunate consequences for its residents, Michael doesn't shy away from investigating the newly renovated additions. Fear and apprehension aren't emotions he's frequently given to experiencing, and taking a look at the new areas himself is about the only way to learn anything about them - if, indeed, there's anything worth learning. From afar, the gazebo looks like nothing more than a gazebo, and it doesn't hold his attention for long.

The playground doesn't call to him any more than any of the other new locations do, but it winds up being the one to sink its claws into him.

The effects of the playground are insidious. Michael doesn't notice anything amiss as it turns back his clock; there are no gaps or blank spaces in his memory, because it lops them off from the front rather than the back. The longer he stands there, the less he remembers why, and the less inclined he is to leave. Maybe he's supposed to be here?

God's absence after Lucifer's fall had been the longest and the most permanent, but certainly not the first. From time to time, He'd left Michael on his own in Heaven. He'd always come back.

In time, the Michael Wonderland knows is no more. In his place sits an unfamiliar boy, four or five years of age, inhabited by an archangel of equivalent age. Even if his appearance doesn't seem out of place, his odd disinterest in actually playing on the playground probably is. It's apparent that he's waiting for something.

Comments

[freewill]

His vessel becoming younger is no more bothersome than it changing sexes, but Castiel's already come across others who've explored the playground, and it seems like the majority of those affected also lose their memories of their older years.

Now, it might not be the same for angels, as they don't age the way that humans do, but it's enough to see to it that Castiel gives the playground a large berth. He has no interest in losing years of experience. He isn't going to let it prevent him from going out entirely, however, and so it's as he's approaching the newly made shoreline that he's distracted by sensing a sibling nearby.

Michael. Castiel goes out of his way to keep away from his older brother in most cases, but when he realizes that Michael's Grace is in that playground area, he can't resist looking into it.

He starts in that direction, pausing when he catches sight of a young boy who is most definitely an archangel. Physically, he looks like a young version of John Winchester, but something about his Grace is off. Castiel keeps his distance as he calls out. "Michael."

[quis_ut_deus]

Whether or not it's a stroke of bad luck for the both of them that Michael happens to be part of the majority who've lost their memories as well as their adult bodies to the playground remains to be seen. It makes him docile and easy to handle at the moment, but archangels have egos like black holes. He may not be pleasant in the aftermath.

(Then again, when was the last time the eldest had been pleasant?)

For the moment, Michael is all open excitement and fluttering wings as he hops his way over to Castiel.

If he had ever thought to ask their Father for siblings, Michael would have stopped at one. It wasn't his place to make demands of God in the first place. One more angel in Heaven would have been plenty of company for him. Three in one day is more than he ever would have imagined or hoped for.

"Hi."

He beams up at his now-older sibling, massive wings still twitching behind him. They're not much smaller or weaker than they are normally; he hadn't been built helpless, after all. For everything else that's off about his Grace, at least this remains the same.

[freewill]

The pure excitement, the sparking of Michael's Grace, the movements of his wings... none of it matches what Castiel's come to know about his brother over the years.

It's as if his personality has been completely rewritten, but maybe it's more that he's been undone to the point that he hasn't yet developed into the cold leader that Castiel's always believed him to be.

The fact that he appears like a human child only adds to the overall image, and Castiel opens and the closes his mouth, at a loss for what to say. He can only imagine how Michael will react to this whenever it wears off.

"Hello," he finally says. "Do you know who I am? Or why we're here?" He's still keeping his distance. Even like this, Michael could obliterate him with a thought, and Castiel's not about to forget that.