entrancelogs | 001 | backdated to Thursday 07/17

Entry tags:

001 | backdated to Thursday 07/17

Who: Jean & you fine people
Where: various spots along the outside of the mansion walls, the marketplace
When: thursday, after the event wears off
Rating: PG-13? idk
Summary: Oh what the hell...
The Story:

Jean wakes up in a bed. An actual no bullshit bed, and if that alone wasn't confusing enough the complete lack of anything familiar when he cracks his eyes open with a groan is the nail in the 'I know where I am' coffin; what the hell sort of dream is this? Is he still sleeping? Is this part of it? ...What the hell is 'soccer'??

Blearily, he rubs at his eyes for a few seconds, hoping that when the white spots fade he'll be back in their makeshift barracks in the woods.

When he isn't, the panic starts to set in. It's only a mild nagging, of course- it's not like he's waking up in a cell or standing on the gallows platform with a rope around his neck or anything- but it's enough to propel him out of bed a little more violently than he'd usually hop, landing with a thud on the oddly padded floor. He spots his gear on a strange-looking chair and goes for it immediately, making quick work of fastening it together before hovering nervously at the door to listen for any signs of commotion outside. Is he in Sina? This looks like it could be one of the Military Police's headquarters- it's about a million times nicer than Survey's quarters, he notes with only a little bitterness- but it's... Off. There are things scattered around he doesn't recognize, and trying to place them is just convincing him even more that something's going on that he really, truly doesn't understand.

So the best option is to get to things he does understand, right? RIGHT. The window's open, thank god, and he pops his head out to peer into the strange landscape before making his mind up and climbing out onto the lip of the roof, hesitating just long enough to be sure no one's watching before triggering his maneuver gear and launching himself up onto one of the gablets sticking up out of whatever the hell kind of roof this is.

He perches there, one foot planted on either side, and scans the area with a hand held up against the glare. No titans... No nothing, no other buildings, no people that he can see...

What the hell...?

Completely and utterly lost, he squints out into the distance for another few minutes before giving that up in favor of climbing higher, using his gear to swing from one side of the building to another; when he does he's rewarded with the first hint of anything familiar yet: when he looks down, he spots a cluster of stalls that look to be run by some of the shadiest damn people he's ever seen in his life. Hooded and oddly subdued, they sort of make his skin crawl, or at least prickle... But he pushes that down. Someone here probably knows where he is, right? Right?

Mind made up once again, he makes his way down, eventually landing a few yards away from the odd little marketplace. Time to get some answers... Subtly. At least he's not wearing his uniform...

[[ooc: feel free to hear him stomping around on the roof/walls and whack him with a broom to get him to pipe down, spot a blur of gray and black and wires outside any given window and poke your head out to rubberneck, or find him skulking around the marketplace with his hood up like a creeper because he really does not want to be executed today. Also prose or brackets are all good with me!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Armin's been on patrol.

He remembers the event very vividly. Most of it he'd obviously like to forget... But there was one oddity he just couldn't account for.

Mikasa and Jean were there.

In all the time he's been at the Mansion, people from his life simply showing up for an event has never happened. And it stood out too much. It wasn't just a passing glance, or a memory he had in that world, but solid, face-to-face meetings, conversations he could still recall. That can't just be coincidence. He has a hunch that they might still be here, even now that the event has ended.

...Now if only the Mansion wasn't so big. Combing the inside and hoping to run into them was asking for a miracle, each floor was so huge. After a little bit of fruitless searching indoors, he gives up, and climbs the stairs to the roof. He has his harness and engine on, but not his sheathes or blades. There's no need.

As he paces one side of the eaves, he hears the familiar zip of lines being being shot behind him. He pivots on his heel to try and find the source.

Edited 2014-07-18 21:05 (UTC)

Yeah, see, Jean's just operating under the assumption that he'd gotten hit pretty hard or something, and is dismissing that whole ordeal as some kind of supremely fucked up dream. This place, while just as strange, doesn't look anything like the one his mind seems to have pulled out of someone's ass, and so he really isn't sure what to expect as he moves around the exterior of the building.

Eventually he'll make it up to the roof, and it's only by virtue of his impeccablemaneuvering skills that he's able to whip around almost entirely and land just a few feet away from Armin once he's spotted him.

He turns briefly to make sure he hasn't been followed, but once he's satisfied he's not about to get knocked out (again?), he gives Armin his full attention.

"What the hell happened?" And then, noting the absence of any actual weapons on Armin's person with a frown: "...Where's the rest of your gear?"

He is... So lost right now. This isn't the time to wander around unarmed!!

"Jean... I thought it would be you."

So his hypothesis was correct. Normally Armin hates it when he's right, it usually means something's gone disastrously wrong, but this isn't so bad. He just has to explain everything to someone... again...

"Don't worry, we're not in any immediate danger," Jean should know Armin's the farthest thing from an idiot, and would never put himself at risk, so what he says must be true, "or really any danger at all."

"As you can see," he makes a sweeping motion with his arm towards the horizon, where the land meets the earth. There's no wall to block their view, and yet, no Titans... "we're not exactly where you remember you were last."

He about to say something to the effect of obviously it's me I was just talking to you in the street, but he isn't sure that's even true... And then there's the beginnings of an explanation, and so rather than talk out of his ass he figures now would be the time to listen.

Of all the people to be doing this, Armin is probably the ideal; Jean does trust him.

"Yeah, I-- I thought this might be Sina when I woke up, but..." His gaze follows the swipe of Armin's hand. "That can't be right."

He sets his hands at his hips and shifts his weight from one foot to the other, apprehensive. The claim that they're 'not in any danger' is such a ludicrous thought that he can't even argue, but:

"What's going on? Am I missing something?"

"You're not wrong to be flabbergasted. You should have seen me when I first arrived here."

He did what he does best: He screamed his arrival from the rooftops like a shrieking harpy eagle. Someone threw their shoe at him.

"I think we're all missing something when it comes to how we arrive here. It's a bit of a mystery. But regardless, we're not within the walls anymore. According to everything I've learned, we're not in our own world at all."

Armin doesn't seem completely satisfied with this answer, but he does believe it. All evidence pointed towards the fact. It was just... too bizarre for him to swallow sometimes.

Bizarre, unbelievable...

Completely insane. He trusts Armin, sure, but...

"...What."

Really, bro? Jean steps a little closer, tipping his head and narrowing his eyes in the vicinity of Armin's head. Did he get clocked even harder than Jean did, or...?

"Is that a joke? Because if it is, it's not very funny."

"I wouldn't joke about something like this," he frowns a little, "and I see where you're looking; I haven't hit my head."

"There are all sorts of ways I can prove it to you. Captain Levi and Eren are here, and I suspect Mikasa is too. They all just showed up, the same way you did. I've been here for months, but have yet to see a single Titan. And..."

"I believe, just yesterday, you were a star 'soccer' player at a certain school?"

Busted. ...Not that he cares. It's a logical assumption to make, okay?

But once again, any argument he may have made gets cut off before he gets a chance to voice it. HOW DID YOU GET IN HIS HEAD, ARMIN? GET OUTTA THERE.

"That-- You remember that too?" He makes a face. "I thought I was dreaming..." Dreaming about something he has no knowledge of whatsoever...

Also totally logical, clearly.

"I remember it because I was there. We were all there. We just... weren't ourselves."

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Armin shake his head; sure he had to prove something to Jean, but he was getting ahead of himself. Events aren't the first thing your explain here.

"I think the most efficient thing to do here would be for you to ask the questions."

"...Okay." Because that makes so much more sense...

"Uh, yeah, right... I guess." A slight pause, while he collects his thoughts- as much as he can, anyway- and then: "Where the hell are we?"

He crosses his arms. It seems like a good place to start...

But he swears to god if the answer is 'the roof'.......

"This entire world is called 'Wonderland'. From the forest to the ocean. We're not the only ones here. There are the natives, which have always resided in this place, and then the rest are people like us. Foreigners torn from other worlds or realities."

"We all live in this Mansion-- the one we're standing on right now. I'd say two to three hundred people are here at the moment."

Jean listens without interrupting, but once Armin's done, he holds up a hand.

"I think... I need to be sitting down for this." And so he does. Just plops down right where he is, leans against the half-wall that outlines the rooftop and runs a hand through his hair. ...A little dramatic, but there you go.

"So we all got kidnapped-" he knew Jaeger would rub off on them all eventually, dammit- "-and now we just sort of hang out in this Mansion and... Do what? What do they want from us? ...It didn't look like a Mansion yesterday, it was different."

Wow, he's lost. Is this how Connie feels all the time...?

For once, Armin can't blame him for his over-the-top theatrics. He knows the words that are coming out of his mouth are absolutely ridiculous, and if it weren't for his reputation as a bastion of sense in an ocean of chaos, Jean wouldn't be giving him the time of day right now.

"That's because we were in a middle of an event," he explains, and sits down as well, "which has to do with what they want out of us, actually. The knowledge that's more or less accepted is that Wonderland and its magic survives by feeding off of memories. To do this, on occasion, it creates 'events' out of the memories of the people that it steals. After that, Wonderland eats a word from the memories of the people involved in the event."

He pauses to breathe, and also to gather his thoughts, realizing the size of the infodump he just upended on Jean.

"I know that's a lot to take in at once, but... What you remember yesterday was part of someone's event. Wonderland is more than powerful enough to alter our entire world like that."

GOOD TO KNOW HE HAS YOUR APPROVAL TO LOSE HIS MIND THEATRICALLY, ARMIN.

(No, but seriously, why is this his life? Why?)

"So... Somebody here came from a place like that, with the school and the festival and the games... And the entire place changed to reflect it? Is that... About right?"

His expression darkens somewhat as he puts a few more pieces together.

"...That means it can take things from our heads too, doesn't it." Not so much a question as his assuming the worst... Tell him he's wrong. Please.

(Hey man, you took the cape. You signed up. It's all downhill from there, buddy.)

Armin purses his lips in a sardonic smile; he has to admit, he respects Jean's ability to come to the correct conclusions so quickly. It took Captain Levi much longer. He nods regretfully.

"I'm afraid you're exactly right. There may not be any Titans now, but it's not out of the question that there could be in the future, if the Mansion decides to prey on our memories. Which is becoming more and more likely as more of us arrive..."

'Correct' and 'most miserable' tend to be one and the same... And Jean is nothing if not gifted with the worst case scenario being printed on every side of the Magic 8 Ball dice in his brain. With great power comes great Debbie Downering, it's his curse.

"Shit." Well that's... Well, it's not like he wasn't expecting that- again, always expecting the other shoe (all of the shoes) to drop directly on his head- but hearing it confirmed doesn't exactly loosen the knots in his stomach...

He groans.

"And there's no way to keep that from happening?" Because seriously... No. He joined the Survey Corps to help humanity, and that extends to these people too. He wouldn't wish their world on anyone.

"Not that anyone knows of. We've-- I mean, the Captain has ordered that preparations be made, which is what we're working on right now. Considering how much the Mansion can change its landscape and alter our memories during events, we're not sure how much it will actually help, but it's better than doing nothing."

"Right." Wow, he's more grateful than he can say that they have orders of some kind... Takes some of the pressure off, at least, even if the Captain is pants-shitting scary about ninety percent of the time.

"So you said the Captain's here, and Eren... And Mikasa... And that you've been here for months." A thought occurs to him. "But you weren't-- I mean, I was just talking to you in the street before I came here, Connie and Sasha, too... That shouldn't be possible, being in two places at once."

Speaking of things not being possible... Brains can't actually overheat, can they? Because he's approaching that point. It's a lot to take in.

"Unless that wasn't you, back there." He does not like the idea of that. They've had enough of traitors infiltrating their ranks as it is...

(He doesn't stop to consider that maybe this Armin isn't actually the Armin he knows- this is about as Armin as it gets.)

"Don't worry, it was me," Armin assures him; he can see his face going a little red from all this thinking, "that's about the last thing I remember too. Time is irrelevant here. We're all snatched from different places on our timelines, and... Well, time stops in our world. When we go back, it's like nothing happened, no time passing at all."

He has heard interesting theories involving "strings", where there are millions of versions of yourselves, each depending on the millions of tiny decisions you make every day, but, and perhaps the "Armin" that is here is just one of those millions of "Armin"s, but... Well, Jean's dumb haircut looks like it's about to catch fire already. Better keep his nerdy thoughts to himself.

Edited 2014-07-22 20:41 (UTC)

~~Oh, is it browning at the edges already? Damn.~~

Yeah, it's definitely best Armin keeps the 'strings' to himself, unless Jean can use them to hang himself with...

...Nah. It's not that bad.

Jean reaches a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck with a sigh.

"So we might not even all be on the same page here, that's what you're saying." He's glad for what it means back home, but here... That's gonna be weird.

"Maybe not," he shakes his head, "but so far we've been lucky. We're all from roughly the same time."

"However, as you've already experienced, other people's worlds can vastly differ from our own."

"Yeah, I kinda got that." He remembers things, words and phrases and experiences, that make absolutely no sense to him now. At all.

But there they are, shoved into the back of his head direct from... Somebody else's head. Somebody else's world.

"So is this... Normal? The way things look now?"

Just... So he can establish some sort of baseline. Or something.

Look, he doesn't even know where to start with the questions.

"Yes," Armin looks out to the grounds, the stables, the ocean, "normally life here is peaceful. Idyllic, even. There are hiccups between the events with occasional troublemaker, but I suppose that sort of thing is true anywhere."

"But I have to admit, relaxation can make me uneasy. I haven't had so little to do since I was a child."

Oh, so it's some calm before the storm shit then, huh? Great.

Well, whatever, Wonderland or whatever you're called. You won't be catching Jean with his pants down!!

"Yeah..." He trails off. Honestly, relaxing is almost a foreign concept at this point, and he's not entirely sure what he's gonna do with that, now that he's apparently getting the chance.

A part of him is kinda pissed about it, actually; if this had been a year ago, he'd have jumped at the chance to get away from the titans, to be someplace where he'd have the freedom to do whatever the hell he wants...

Now that it's right in front of him, though, it feels... Wrong. Especially if the price for it is the possibility of spreading the titans to a world that'd been lucky enough to escape them. And with everything that's going on at home...

"That's, ah-- gonna be weird." As nice as being off the hook sounds, he can't really ignore the catch that goes along with it.

Jean is a particularly expressive person, and Armin can catch a little bit of the conflict he's having on his face. He knows that he's not quite like the rest of them, Eren, Mikasa, Levi, who can toss everything aside and live for the mission, but... Armin understands that sentiment too. This is the sort of world he longs for; it's nearly perfect, but he still feels pangs out guilt for enjoying it. They weren't free. This was just another, much more elaborate cage that he was slave to now.

"You'll get used to it. The hardest thing is remembering to do things like... eat, and sleep."

Without orders or any sort of daily routine, when Armin first got here, those were things he just sort of... forgot you have to do...

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sky meets the earth. SKY MEETS THE EARTH ;;;;;;;;;;;;;

/whale noises ughhhhhhh also harpy eagle HELP ME

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