Piper Addison (makemywayhome) wrote in nevermore_logs, @ 2012-07-24 05:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | lethe |
Who: Amanda Lucas [NPC], Lethe, mentions of Michael
Where: A nice, safe park
When: Saturday
What: Help me to forget
Warnings: References to torture
Going outside was tricky business, especially going to places with a lot of people. On one hand, lots of people meant that He couldn't just show up and take her again. Or at least, that someone would notice. Not like last time, when she'd followed the woman-who-wasn't-a-woman out of a bar and then...well, then things had gotten very bad. So there was some kind of safety in numbers.
But being outside meant people brushing up against her, and anyone touching her tended to send her spiralling down into bad, bad memories. Plus, things outside weren't in anyway predictable, not like in her apartment, where she could at least lock the door and curl up in her bed. She'd almost wanted to ask Lethe if they could meet at her apartment, but something about the idea of letting someone into her sanctuary made her skin crawl.
So instead, she sat on a park bench, hands clenched around the rails. Michael had promised to keep an eye out, and since he was an angel, Amanda figured that he could probably do that without actually being there. The power of God or whatever.
A month ago, she'd have laughed at the idea. But being tortured by the Devil had a way of opening a person's mind.
oblivionriver
2011-10-08 04:18 pm (local) (link)
It had been a long while since Lethe had used her gift on one of the living. Usually, the dead simply drank from her river, forgot their previous lives, and went on to their assigned place in Hades. This wasn't to say she couldn't do it, it was just the exception rather than the rule.
She made her way to the park she'd told Amanda about, still in her name badge and scrubs, having come straight from the care facility. She spotted a young woman sitting on a park bench, hands gripping the rails tightly and looking somewhat ill at ease. That was most likely her.
"Amanda?" she asked softly, coming to a stop in front of her.
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ancientserpent
2011-10-08 08:44 pm (local) (link)
Amanda's head darted up, and she gave a nervous smile. "Yeah, that's me. Lethe, right? Am I pronouncing that right? I think I'm pronouncing it right."
Well, Lethe certainly didn't look like she was going to horribly murder Amanda, so that was reassuring.
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oblivionriver
2011-10-08 09:24 pm (local) (link)
Lethe smiled. "Yes, that's me. And yes, you're pronouncing it right."
She settled herself onto the bench, but not close enough to crowd. She turned her head, looking for a second person. "Are we waiting on your friend?"
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ancientserpent
2011-10-08 09:35 pm (local) (link)
Amanda smiled before looking down at the ground. It seemed rude to keep a death grip on the bench rail with someone else there, but she was still jittery. She put her hands in her lap and picked at the nails instead.
"Oh, no, he's just...around." Saying it out loud felt a little surreal, but no more than anything else that had happened. "He's, um, an angel. I'm pretty sure he has wings? So, how does all of this work?"
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oblivionriver
2011-10-08 09:47 pm (local) (link)
Lethe knew the young woman must be very uncomfortable, but she admired her strength in asking for help and for coming out. And so she would do everything in her power to help her.
"Ahh," she said. "Well I've never met any angels, so I'm not sure how they work, but I hope he knows he has nothing to worry about from little old me."
"As for how all of this works, it's sort of like drawing the poison out of a wound. I remove the memories that you want to be rid of, and then they're gone. You don't ever have to worry about them again. But I do have to have a point of contact, either a finger on your temple or, if that doesn't appeal, a light grasp on one of your hands would work just as well. And I promise you, it won't hurt."
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ancientserpent
2011-10-08 09:56 pm (local) (link)
"Right." God, but that sounded like the perfect solution, the only way she was going to have a normal life again. She took a deep breath and tried to make her hands stop shaking. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and she just had to get through until the end.
"Do you see the memories that you take? Because, if you do, you'll know the ones I want gone. But they're really..." she swallowed. "Not good. They won't stay in your head, will they?"
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oblivionriver
2011-10-08 10:04 pm (local) (link)
She nodded. "I see them, like a flash, and then they pass away. I think I have to thank whoever made me the way I am, I don't keep the memories I wipe away. I can't even imagine having the memories of millions in my head all these years. I probably would have gone mad by now."
Lethe slid just a little closer, enough so she could rest her fingertips lightly over Amanda's hand. "Whenever you're ready, simply say the word. I've got nothing but time."
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ancientserpent
2011-10-08 10:07 pm (local) (link)
Amanda nodded again and took a deep breath. She pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket.
"I wrote a note to myself, so I don't freak out about not remembering a whole month," she explained. Stop stalling, just do it, she told herself. "I...I'd like everything starting from getting taken gone, please. Up until a woman named Margaret shows up." She closed her eyes.
"Do it?"
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oblivionriver
2011-10-08 10:28 pm (local) (link)
Lethe nodded, settling into the bench and gathering all of her energy. "It may be a bit odd at first, but not painful. The mind of a living peron generally isn't meant to be gone through while that person is still alive. But neither is it meant to be tormented so."
She closed her eyes as well, reaching out into Amanda's mind with every lick of power she possessed. It was a bit difficult at first, human minds are created to try and shut out invasion. 'Let me in' she said gently, and after a moment, she did.
A rush of memories assaulted her mind. Kidnapping, torture, a truly evil man, another man who had saved her, and a woman named Margaret who had traded herself for Amanda. It would have knocked her backward if she hadn't been so focused.
Almost like curling a hand around flower stems, Lethe gathered up the memories from every corner of Amanda's mind. A month's worth of memories made for a lot, and even though she'd fallen far since Greece, Lethe still had strength enough for this. She broke the bundle into pieces and began extracting them, one by one, drawing them into herself.
Then, when the last one had been removed, she let go of Amanda's hand, rose off the bench and staggered onto the grass. She pressed her hands to her temples, drawing the offending memories out and away. They hung in the air like so much river mist, before she summoned up a great breath of air and blew them away. "Get out," she hissed at them as they dissolved in the wind. "You are not welcome."
Stumbling a little on her way back, she all but collapsed back onto the bench next to Amanda. "Open your eyes," she said, her voice little more than a whisper.
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ancientserpent
2011-10-08 10:48 pm (local) (link)
Amanda felt strange, a little like she was spinning around while still sitting down. But it didn't hurt. And the memories that had plagued her, flashing through her mind every time she let her thoughts wander, started to fade. They lost color and intensity, like a photo fading to black and white. And before she even knew what had happened, they were gone.
She opened her eyes when she heard Lethe's voice. "Whoa. Holy--are you okay?" Amanda rested a hands on the woman's shoulder.
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oblivionriver
2011-10-09 07:39 pm (local) (link)
Lethe managed a weak smile. "I'll be fine," she rasped out, sitting up and letting Amanda's hand anchor her to reality. "It just takes more power out of me now than it used to. I'll recover. Though I'm rather hungry all of a sudden." Her stomach growled as if to accentuate this point.
"But how are you?" Lethe asked. "How do you feel?"
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ancientserpent
2011-10-09 07:58 pm (local) (link)
"I, uh..." It was the weirdest feeling, to know she had forgotten something. She couldn't even remember what it was that she'd forgotten, but she knew that she'd spoken with Lethe in order to forget something. She looked down at the note clutched in one hand and unfolded it.
Dear self,
A horrible demon woman kidnapped you, and you sold your soul to the Devil to survive because you were drunk and had no idea what was going on. And then he tortured you for a month. Angels and the Devil and God, I guess, are all real.
Amanda stared for a minute and then muttered, "I'm really not a very good writer." But she turned to smile at Lethe. "I don't remember any of this, though. It's all gone, thank God. Or thank you!" She couldn't stop smiling, and it felt unfamiliar on her face.
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oblivionriver
2011-10-09 08:30 pm (local) (link)
Lethe smiled. "That's normal, that feeling that you've forgotten something but can't remember what. It will pass, because the memories aren't important anymore."
"I'm glad I could help," she said, and she meant it. "And you're quite welcome. I always hope I'll never have to do this, but it seems like every turn of the wheel, someone needs help somewhere. So I try to do what I can."
She sagged onto the bench a little. She was hungry and tired, but still willing to sit her while Amanda processed it all, if that was needed. It was a bit much to take in, after all. "Do you have a safe place to go back to?" she asked at last.
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ancientserpent
2011-10-09 09:11 pm (local) (link)
Amanda stood up from the bench, still smiling. She almost wanted to twirl around in a circle. It felt like this was the first time in a month that she'd actually been happy, or even felt like she could function again.
"Yeah, I switched apartments after everything happened," Amanda said. "Thank you so much! Seriously, I just...I'm pretty sure that I was thinking about jumping in front of a bus when I first came back, and now those memories are gone and I just--let me buy you lunch or something? You look hungry and I want to do something to help you after you've helped me."
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oblivionriver
2011-10-11 06:18 am (local) (link)
"Good," Lethe said. "And you're so very welcome, and thank you. I'm glad that I could do something helpful with my long life. Lunch sounds lovely, thank you. Right now I feel like I could eat an entire cow then sleep for a week."