+ Your imagination can't hurt you! +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: YOU!
Where: The Mindscape
When: starting November 11th
Rating: may be up to R for character deaths
Summary: Navigate challenges to learn valuable lessons about nonviolence, cooperation, and self-sacrifice! Release your inner animal! Read more about the event here, and on the bulletin board.
The Story:




"If you know yourself, you have nothing to fear."
"Working together is the only way."
"Deaths are a necessary part of life, but not all deaths are necessary."
"The needs of the many outweigh the life of just one."

Comments

[easily]

[maybe that much they can agree on, that they would never be sorry for the things they did for the people they cared about, and they wouldn't insult one another with false apologies either. ]

Believe me, you weren't exactly my first choice for a companion either. But maybe that's the point.

[Wonderland is trying to force them to work together. Fun.]

[interpersonal]

You don't exactly have a lot of options for companions as it is.

[ she can't imagine rebekah has made a lot of friends during her stay, but that's elena's mean girl side talking. she allows space for agreement, snarky commentary aside, and only stops walking when she reaches a hallway. ]

Which one is her room?

[easily]

I have friends!!

[Rebekah you have like...one friend at this point and predictably you're already beginning to project feelings onto him. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

in anyway she huffs off the annoyance and takes a look around.]

The second one on the right.

1/2

[interpersonal]

[ ]

[interpersonal]

[ rebekah's annoyance, perversely gratifying though it may be, signals a warning.

elena doesn't realize she is without her powers just yet, and is perfectly aware that rebekah could snap her in half if she wanted to. there's only so much of the elastic band elena can push. so she nods, takes a deep breath, and steps into the room rebekah has singled out. ]

Here goes nothing.

[ except it's never nothing. once rebekah joins her inside, the door shuts solidly behind them. ]

[easily]

[well that's not ominous at all.

rebekah grabs the doorknob and tries fruitfully to open it back up and she doesn't make any progress. if Elena is paying close enough attention she might notice Rebekah isn't using the sort of force she normally would -- mostly because she can't.]

We're stuck.

[she lets go of the door and wanders in. if they can figure out why they're in here they can get out, right?

there's some sort of letter on Aurora's desk but it's too dark to read it -- maybe there's something they can use as light?]

[interpersonal]

[ oh, she notices.

and elena understands the gravity of their situation, enough that she doesn't keep it to herself. ]

What do you mean, we're stuck? You're a vampire.

[ an original one at that. she should be able to break down that door. rebekah steps away and elena moves on up, grabbing the knob with both hands and using all her strength to try and open it. it's a comical sight, tbh.

speaking of light ... you smell that smoke? the curtains are kind of on fire now. ]

[easily]

I know. Obviously this is one of Wonderland's tricks.

[it'd be too easy, wouldn't it, if she could just break down the door?

and now there's fire to add to this hot mess of a situation. lovely. fire isn't good for anyone but vampires in general are particular vulnerable to it it.

as they raise their voices the flames seem to grow higher and higher as well, as if responding to their hostility towards one another. if she could use her powers she'd would speed run them out of here to solve this problem but now they have to find an escape --

is that a window?]

[interpersonal]

[ elena refuses to accept that her first wonderland death might be burning alive alongside rebekah mikaelson.

r e f u s e s.

... but she does note the more they raise their voices, the more the flames grow higher, too. elena backs away from them, but fire is catching everywhere. she knows this sickening feeling. it wasn't that long ago she was trapped inside a ring of fire, waiting for rebekah's brother to kill her.

welp. they failed the first part of the test, and shutting up does not stop the fire from spreading.

she rushes over to the window. ] We're going to have to jump.

[easily]

[rebekah just stares down the other girl like she's completely insane. ]

You cannot be serious.

[it'd be fitting though. Aurora jumped out this window to turn herself into a vampire. maybe that's what Wonderland wants from them. or maybe it's another trick.

this is probably not the time to debate, however, because: fire

[interpersonal]

[ elena's face is now wearing that expression it gets when she's grown so determined she almost looks a little unhinged, tbh. ]

Does it look like I'm not serious?

[ FIRE. THE ROOM HAS LITERALLY CAUGHT FIRE. ]

[easily]

[without her hard power to fall back on rebekah is more than a little skittish.]

We don't know what's down there, and if the rest of my abilities aren't working I doubt my healing or blood is either.

[so it's either death by fire or falling?

what a great choice to make.]

[interpersonal]

[ it's a choice rebekah is failing to make.

so elena makes it for her. she has a feeling that if she leaves rebekah behind, she won't like what she finds next.

SO.

elena uses the fact rebekah is ranting and thus distracted to flatten her hands on the original's back.

and then shoves hard. ]

[easily]

[!!!!

down down the rabbit hole she falls

wait. wrong wonderland.

anyways, she's falling down towards -- is that water?

a large ocean begins to swell beneath her, threatening to swallow her whole. panic settles in her stomach as she thinks of the months in that coffin with that special dagger in her at the bottom of the ocean, drowning over and over again. she thinks of a bridge on a desperate night and another large body of water, a night that is intimately tied between her and Elena, even if the other girl doesn't remember it yet.

it's in the water baby, it's between you and me ♪]

[interpersonal]

[ ... oh.

that actually worked.

elena looks down below as rebekah falls, only to ... somehow poof somewhere else? elena doesn't see the ocean yet, and she doesn't see rebekah anymore, either. she can't while she's still trapped inside the building. now that she knows she won't be going splat, however, she takes the plunge.

and then —

of course. of course there's water, and it's freezing. elena breaks through the surface with a loud gasp, trying to fight the current that threatens to pull her back down. it feels like someone's wrapped their hands around her ankles, and keeps tugging downward. ]

[easily]

[rebekah doesn't feel the same sort of pull downwards, not yet anyway. perhaps she's spent enough time at the bottom of the ocean already or perhaps it's because there's a different purpose to them being there together at all.

she's pretty sure if she let's elena drown, things are going to get worse. she tries not to worry about the fact that she lacks the healing power, strength, and lung capacity that she might have normally. she dives into the water, into the cold, and starts swimming with determination. it's been centuries since she's down this without the aid of supernatural abilities, since she was a child learning from her brothers how to swim to survive.

it's a clumsy act in parts, but effective and soon enough she's at elena's side, grabbing the other girl's arm before tugging her upwards towards the surface. it's only when elena is gasping for air that she speaks again.]

You didn't think I'd let Wonderland have the satisfaction of being the one to kill you, did you?

[interpersonal]

[ elena's nearly drowned before.

she remembers the feeling. reaching for her father's hand. an i love you as he dies in front of her. and then there's only darkness. people tend to say life flashes before your very eyes but that isn't true. at least, not in elena's experience. in elena's experience, there's only water.

there's water and there's loneliness. she used to think about it more than she would ever admit. think about how she should've been the one to die and not her parents. she's the reason they were out at wickery bridge that night. the reason jeremy is an orphan. she is the reason for so many things.

the experience is different this time.

she's never been in water this cold. she swears she's trying to force her legs to move, but they feel numb like the rest of her. panic claws at her throat along with an instinct to survive. she kicks and she screams until rebekah grabs her arm. and as she does so, rebekah will feel her supernatural strength return to her, little by little. ]

[ elena almost laughs amidst coughing. ] I considered it. [ the current weakens, and they can now swim to the shore. ]

[easily]

[the will to survive is a powerful motivation, it can cause people to do a great many thing some good and some terrible. but for now, things seem to be easing up. rebekah can smell and hear the swaying of the water better now, and her body doesn't feel nearly as worn or tired. her abilities are coming back.

it seems she made the right choice, for once.]

I think we're almost done here. Let's hope we don't have to do this again any time soon.

[it's almost friendly. almost. it turns out almost burning alive and drowning with someone might help bring you together.]

[interpersonal]

[ elena nearly snorts. ]

Let's not hold our breaths.

[ ... except, okay, in this case, they need to literally hold their breaths if they're to swim to the shore. they never reach it, however. just before they can plop onto the sand, they are immediately transported to mindscape numero dos.

e n j o y. ]