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[keeperfromtheflame]

People would tell me how much they hated this place.  Why they thought it was awful.

I used to think that it wasn't so bad, really.

[Hazel's expression is stone-faced and her tone calm, but there was a noticeable tightness to her shoulders.  She was sitting on her bed with a borderline defeated aura, closet door behind her partially open and a...bow in hand.]

[Those who had known him may or may not recognize it as Frank's bow.]

[Her fingers gripped it so tightly, it was a wonder the wood hadn't broken in half yet.]

Now?  I finally get it.

Comments

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[heirtotheshield]

[ James doesn't recognize the bow, but he does recognize something is wrong. ]

Hazel? What happened?

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[keeperfromtheflame]

[Hey, James.]

[Normally, the sight of her friend would have brought about even the tiniest of smiles. She wasn't in much of a smiling mood.]

This.

[She held up the bow.]

It was bad enough when all my friends started disappearing. Nico...Annabeth...Percy...even Frank. But now, it's like my own closet is mocking me.

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[heirtotheshield]

Frank's gone too?

[ He hadn't realized that. ]

I'm sorry, Hazel. Is there anything I can do?

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[keeperfromtheflame]

Yes. Just before the latest excitement started.

[She'd thought about announcing it. For the people who knew him and deserved to know. But one day had turned into the next, and before the proper words could ever come, Armin appeared with information and plans on how to fight. Instincts kicked in, and she had prioritized the mission over personal feelings.]

[It was the Roman way. The reason why Leo had trusted the two of them with his Secret over the rest of the Seven. Because they would understand. And they did.]

I'm not sure there's anything anyone can do.

I'm sorry.

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[heirtotheshield]

[ Excitement... all that... no. He's going to worry about that later. Right now, he's got a friend to cheer up. He'll go down and see Armin tomorrow. ]

Would you like to join me for a movie? I don't know that many, but there's a few floating around we can get?

[ That's what normal friends do, right? ]

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[keeperfromtheflame]

[It was what normally friends did.]

[And normal boyfriends, too; the moment he suggested a movie, she had to turn away. Shutting her eyes to will the tears back. She and Frank...taking full advantage of the luxuries and magic of Wonderland, he had been regularly introducing her to Disney movies. Every film she'd missed in the seventy years she was dead. They'd started with Snow White and worked their way up through the classics by year.]

We...were supposed to watch Oliver and Company next.

At least, I think that was the title. The one with the little cat and the girl.

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[heirtotheshield]

[ He says nothing while she composes herself. He can't imagine Torrun, Pym or Azari being here and then not. He can't imagine Francis being here either... to lose someone as close as Frank was? It has to be heartwrenching. ]

I don't know what one that is. You've probably seen more movies than me. I've been trying but some of the movies just aren't that great.

[ Star Wars had hit too close to home. ]

Do you have it?

[henrydaniel]

...Hazel?

[Henry considers her a friend, a really good one, and now he's worried about her.]

What happened?

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Hazel considered him a friend, too. Which was exactly why she was going to give him the truth, straight:]

Frank's gone.

And this morning, I found his bow in my closet. It wasn't there last night.

[henrydaniel]

[What was with this place and people disappearing with literally no warning? He really hates that for people. Well, except for people like Pan.]

You said he's left and come back before, right? Maybe his bow is there because you're supposed to keep it until he comes back again. Or...maybe this place thinks you're gonna need it for some reason.

[Henry wants to have a little belief for her, that Frank will come back.]

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Hazel wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it had also taken her brother and the rest of her friends from home. Because of course.]

He did. But I left and came back with him.

Plus...I don't know how to use his bow. Not really.

[She had vague memories of picking it up and shooting. Only that hadn't been her. Not her her. It was very confusing.]

[henrydaniel]

I know someone here who can help you learn if you want. I mean, it had to be left here for a reason right? Maybe you're supposed to use it.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Hazel was willing to believe in a lot of things, but something so specific as a choice of weapon wasn't one of them.]

[...in fact, half the reason why she had chosen her spatha in the first place was because everyone at Camp had told her not to. What good would it do? They wouldn't give her a horse, and it was cumbersome without one. Reasons she ignored. Blatantly.]

Who?

[That said, it wasn't as if she could just throw it away....]

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[eatsyourscience]

[Souji's only talked to Hazel once (maybe twice? Remembering is hard), but he's been here awhile. Maybe he can be sympathetic.]

Someone close went home?

[The fact that the same happened to him last week will help with the sympathy.]

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[keeperfromtheflame]

...yes.

[She barely recalled their last conversation, but she had already made the indirect admission public. There was no point in hiding it.]

Frank.

And Nico before him. And Percy...Annabeth...Leo... [Literally everybody she knew from home.]

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[eatsyourscience]

I'm sorry. I've been through that, too.

[But Frank--who Souji never met--was the one she addressed the network about. Which leads him to think...]

Frank was special to you?

[He keeps his tone casual and conciliatory, because she shouldn't feel like she has to answer that question if she doesn't want to.]

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[keeperfromtheflame]

He was-is--[Correcting him on choice of tense right there]--my boyfriend.

[She was never shy about that. Nor did his not being here change anything.]

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[eatsyourscience]

Then when you go home, you'll be with him again?

[Her correction on the verb tense would indicated that, but he can imagine circumstances under which that wouldn't be true. He doesn't want to assume either way.]

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[keeperfromtheflame]

Why wouldn't I be?

[She literally couldn't think of a single reason why it wouldn't be so. They would return to the same moment they had left, right? For her and Frank, that would be a victory. One hard earned and yet to be celebrated. But celebrate they would, whether it was back home or here, in Wonderland.]

[superagent]

[ Phil can't do much in this place. He tries, but he doesn't always manage to get any traction. Listening, at least, is something he can offer freely, especially to the younger residents of Wonderland (or seemingly younger). ]

Do you want to talk about it?

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Yes and no. Though the yes might have been the healthier option.]

I'm not...sure how much there is to say.

My friends are all gone. I came here with someone and he's gone, but I'm still here. And I don't understand why.

[superagent]

I wish I had answers for you, but I don't think any of us have cracked the mystery of this place.

[ This is probably one of the hardest parts of being here. He's watched his own people leave and he's grown to care for people who've lost friends to what he hopes are their homes, but he just can't be sure. ]

From what I can tell, it seems like most people go home. Maybe... you'll go home soon, too.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Sometimes, the best thing to hear was that somebody else didn't have the answer, either. It made her feel less stupid about coming up empty on her end.]

I went home once before, but then I came back.

[Story of her lives, really.]

There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it. It's all so...random.

[superagent]

Yeah, I haven't gone home once, but some of my friends who've been here for less time have gone home a few times.

[ He shakes his head and thinks of Sam's stories of a zombie-plagued world. ]

What's waiting for you back home? Something safer than this place?

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Which furthers her theory that there...basically was no theory to be had. Of course.]

I'm not sure if safer is the right word...exactly...

[In fact, the danger levels seems to be roughly the same. Maybe even slightly more to her favor in Wonderland.]