fandomhigh | Library, Wednesday

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Library, Wednesday

Sholeh and Zeela had started a small ritual. Whenever one woke up, they would immediately confer with the other about small things. Little details chosen at random. If they agreed on what they remembered, they'd escaped whatever the latest bout of...Fandom...ness...that was currently...Fandoming. If they didn't agree, they promised not to waste time trying to figure out which one of them was 'right.' It hadn't happened yet, but it comforted Sholeh to have a plan.

Along that same vein, she was still setting out books for any researchers that decided to wander through. This week, she pulled out books about memory, memory spells and charms, and amnesia. That wasn't the same thing as whatever was happening, with people actually changing who they were (Sholeh and Zeela both agreed that Cecil hadn't been an adult when he'd started school and certainly didn't have tentacles!), but it was somewhere to start.

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It was probably safe to say that Yeul hadn't been touched by the weirdness, given that her extreme lack of concern or worry was just like normal.

"Hello Sholeh," Yeul said cheerfully, offering her a hot chocolate. "I thought I would come visit."

"Hi, Yeul!" Sholeh gave Yeul a pleased smile. She was feeling unsettled with all the radio news of strange people and familiar people acting strangely. Spending time with Yeul was actually a very good way to relax. "How are you?"

"I am well," Yeul said, smiling back. "Though Evan says I say that everytime I'm asked."

Which, well, she did.

"Are you well?" she continued.

"It's kind of comforting to hear," Sholeh confided. "Because if there's ever a time when you are not, then I know it's time to panic."

Not that she thought there'd be anything she could do in a situation where Yeul was not well. You know. Other than panic quietly in a corner so as not to disturb anyone else who might be better suited for whatever catastrophe was occurring.

"I'm okay. Zeela and I haven't noticed anything amiss with us, so we're better off than most of the island, it seems." It was a comfort to have someone to trade notes with that way.

"Please don't panic, Sholeh," Yeul said gently. "Even if something happens."

Other people would say panic was a totally reasonable response to a lot of things. Yeul wasn't one of them.

"Is Zhari well too?" she asked. "Most of the changes seem rather harmless to me. Do you think it's important?"

"I'll try not to," Sholeh promised, since it was the only thing in good conscience she could promise. "And I'll probably hand the body over to Zee if I do. She's pretty useful in crises."

Would Yeul think the changes were harmless after Sholeh answered her next question?

"...Zhari?"

She'd heard the name before, back when she'd thought Sparkle was playing a joke on her. But she wanted to know who Yeul thought this random person was.

Yeul blinked.

"Zeela certainly is." She looked searchingly at Sholeh. "Excuse a silly question, Sholeh, but... don't you have two sisters? It is in your name, Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar. Have you not heard from Zhari lately?"

That was... well. Yeul wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Noooo," Sholeh said, now looking fretful. Unconsciously, she started wringing her hands. "We're Sholeh a Zeela. We never had a third sister."

::Right?::

=Right,= Zeela soothed. =Neither of us remember having one.=

::So then why does everyone else?::

Zeela had no response to that.

Yeul's serenity, and her faint smile, didn't fade, though she tilted her head a bit more thoughtfully. Her eyes were considering.

"I think that the island has, perhaps, gotten to both of you as well," Yeul said carefully, but honestly. "I would not tease about something like this, Sholeh. Zhari is someone I remember. I have celebrated your birthday with all three of you, and invited the three of you to my home. This change is... one I am not certain of."

It didn't seem like it was harming them, exactly, but one of them was missing, like she'd never existed, and wasn't that a sort of harm in and of itself?

Sholeh bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't remember," she said softly. "I remember our birthday and visiting your home, but I only remember it with Zee and you and me and Evan. There was no one named Zhari, no third sister. I don't know what to think. It's always just been me and Zee."

"This must be the island," Yeul said reassuringly. "Perhaps you are as you always have been, but there was another world, where there were the three of you, and the island has become confused as to which of you belong in this Fandom."

She reached out to touch Sholeh's arm lightly, wanting to offer a bit of comfort. "Would you... the both of you, I mean, like to see pictures of Zhari?" she asked, a bit unsure if she should. "I think I have some."

Back in the dorms, since she hadn't thought to bring any, having seen no reason to...

Edited 2014-03-19 22:50 (UTC)

"I..." Sholeh honestly had no idea how to answer this question. Did she? Did she want to look at a stranger who, in some universe, was her sister?Closer than any one-faced sisters could ever hope to be? "I don't know," she said. "It might feel weird."

Very weird.

"None of this makes any sense. She has to be from some other universe. We couldn't possibly be three! Our mothers are two-in-one, our friends, our neighbors...It's always a pairing of two!"

But then why did everyone in this universe know this other sister, this third?

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