Video; Pretty much right after the Queen of Hearts illusion goes down

[unrecovered]

[First on the screen is Wash, brightly lit by the glowing Bond Engine, looking tired and excited and relieved and honestly just...overwhelmed. Today has been a goddamn Day, hasn't it.]

Soooo. The Bond Engine works, I'm pretty sure we have magic back, we went on the ship, and...

[The video turns around to reveal a voidfish - smaller, but still very much a voidfish - waving a tentacle at them.]

There's another voidfish down here. I...think it's a baby.

Comments

[eudaimonikos]

Uh...well, I was the Boogeyman, you know that. The spirit of Fear, or the personification of it, or something? I cared very much about people being afraid, because then I'd be stronger, and more perceptible. I think you all only perceived me regularly because...well, you know.

[They were the only real people in the place to begin with, and Michael is definitely not actually invisible based on belief. That sounds a little awful, honestly.]

I was fighting with some other fairy-tale immortals, trying to gain their power. Stole a bunch of teeth from the Tooth Fairy over it. [.....] Somewhat related note, don't move the blanket on my bed.

[He couldn't figure out what to do with them and he was panicking, so he just tossed them on his bed and hid them with a throw blanket! You know, like a functional adult.]

[unrecovered]

["Don't move the x" is classic Reds and Blues for "I have something I'm not supposed to and I don't want anyone to see it." Right now, given the context, that's kind of a disturbing prospect.]

You have a bunch of...baby teeth. In our room.

[Fairytale war narrative officially forgotten, because what the fuck.]

[eudaimonikos]

I don't know why they're still real.

[Weren't the kids they came from illusory? The Tooth Fairy he got them from certainly was, so ???]

[unrecovered]

[Yeah, no, there really is no better response to this than a resounding "what the fuck."]

I think we should blame Karsus for that.

[eudaimonikos]

Well, you could say that about anything.

[Michael has met Karsus exactly once, and he is the worst.]

Could be worse. I had a lot more in my weird cave lair.

[unrecovered]

[Wash has had relatively extensive dealings with Karsus and that is an accurate assessment.]

...this has been a really weird year for you, hasn't it.

[In its tank, the baby voidfish waves. Hi there!]

[eudaimonikos]

They've all been, lately.

[But on the grand scale of Michael's life, that's like having a couple of particularly life-changing weeks. A year...that can be a lot to a human, he suspects.]

Are you...okay? [WAIT PAUSE SERIOUS TALK TIME TO WAVE TO THE BABY] Just, uh, generally?

[unrecovered]

[...right. Demon. Attempting to restructure the afterlife before getting yanked to Faerun. Michael's sliding scale of weird is a little different than Wash's.]

[That's a question he honestly isn't expecting, and he needs to take the time - provided to him by an enthusiastic tiny voidfish, evidently, thanks - to actually think about it. Is he okay?]

[Well, he's spent the past year having his memories fucked with, which is fucking great. He'd just helped bring back magic, which - despite his personal misgivings - actually is fucking great. He's just found out Lucretia has been hiding a voidfish baby, which means his memories are likely still being fucked with. Also evidently it's been a year and now the Hunger is just about knocking on their door?]

[Also Karsus is alive and at fault for at least a chunk of all this.]

I...don't...know. Today has been a lot.

[And it's not even close to being over yet.]

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah...yeah.

[This is very true. Michael ducks his head a little, nodding. He doesn't like being on this side of it very much - but the fact that he's been on the other side multiple times helps contextualize it a little differently for him. Maybe he deserves having his memories fucked with a little.]

Well. You don't have to deal with it by yourself or anything, alright? I'll come with you if you're going to go...have any confrontations.