thenearshore | barbie girl in a barbie world

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barbie girl in a barbie world

Who: Wendy

pure_radiantics, and anyone interested whether they saw the BBS post or not
What: Time to go shopping! Because no one wants to walk around in the clothes they died in.
When: June 6, the day after the beach party
Where: The Near Shore, Harajuku, other places maybe

As usual for warm weather, the streets are bustling with all sorts of people. Hopefully everyone going along for this little venture can find each other.... Or don't and just cause shenanigans on your own. That's fine too.

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[ God must be helping Hibiki, as a Wendy tackle is still probably preferable, in the long run, to starring in a cautionary tale about looking both ways before crossing the road. Finding her path across the street suddenly impeded, she looks down, startled. Wha-- ]

Princess Wendy?!

[ does not compute

But, on the plus side, you now have her attention! ]

[Thank god for, well. God. You know. Huffing and rosy cheeked, she glares up at Hibiki.]

You were about to run into the middle of the street! People- normal people- they can’t see us, right!?

They can't...

[ Now that you mention it, she does faintly recall something of that nature. And it fits with the evidence from the day thus far. But.

Hibiki scoffs. ] I'm never invisible.

[ It's ego on autopilot. To avoid having to think about the inevitable. Yet Wendy might be able to feel the fight draining out of Hibiki as she stands here forced to confront the inarguable truth. No illusions, no tricks, no lies. This is the right intersection. And what she seeks isn't here.

PriPara is gone. Or perhaps had never been. ]

[Now is not the time for your ego, Hibiki]

[Still, so long as she’s not going to get hit by a car, Wendy is willing to let her say whatever. Dusting off her dress as she gets up, she glances over to what has the god’s attention. It seems a little strange and weird to Wendy, in that way that everything has since she woke up, but nothing out of the ordinary. Shaking her head, she takes Hibiki’s hand firmly and tries to get her up and away.]

Come on. You’re acting bizarre. Let’s go to one of these cafes and you can get your head on straight.

[No time for the cute girl routine- she clearly needs to take the reigns here until Hibiki is back to her usual silly self again.]

...Right.

[ Hibiki notices her ticket on the ground. So she picks it up. Then she notices her bags. So she picks those up too. After that she'll be surprisingly pliable.

But she's going to keep looking over her shoulder at where she was expecting the entrance to PriPara to be even if she's led away. ]

[It’s actually kind of pitying, to see someone so boisterous and arrogant looking more a lost child than Wendy ever has. If she disliked Hibiki in any way, maybe Wendy would enjoy it, but, well. Sure, she’s been sort of tiring, but… It’s been manageable, especially with gifts.]

[Wendy guides her along patiently, making sure that she has her own things in check, and then she’s nudging the god into the first cafe that they come across. It’s a tiny but cute little place, and she manages to herd Hibiki over to a little table to the side.]

There. I’m going to get you some water or something, okay?

Mm.

[ Hibiki slumps in the chair. She feels a chill. Why isn't Ando here with a jacket?

Right. Because Ando is in PriPara.

And PriPara is gone.

Hibiki looks like she might scream. Or pass out. ]

….Don’t pass out without calling someone else who can carry you or something, alright?

[It’s a legitimate concern, okay? With that settled as much as it can be, Wendy goes over to the counter. She might not have checks, or overflowing princely charisma, but she does have big eyes and a childish face. No one would deny her a simple cup of water, which she soon brings over.]

Here, drink this, okay?

[ "Drink" is something Hibiki can do on autopilot. She raises the cup to her mouth and sips, then blinks. As her lashes flutter, the first signs of intelligence flicker in her eyes again.

This. This is. Not tea.

Strange...

She cups both her hands around it, thinking about what she's recently discovered. ] The soil is barren.

[ Where there should have been a maidens' flower garden for a butterfly such as herself to flutter.

It makes perfect sense to her, okay. ]

[It makes zero sense to Wendy, who is lacking in the mindreading department, and can only shake her head as she hops onto the seat opposite of Hibiki.]

What are you talking about? We’re in the city.

PriPara is gone.

[ Maybe if she says it aloud, it'll make more sense.

Hibiki puts the cup down. She's still mostly talking to herself. Because she just can't believe this. How can PriPara not be here? It's always been there, a shining star promising a better world than the lie-ridden filth surrounding her. ] I can't go back.

[PriPara…. The name is foreign to Wendy, but then again, everything is foreign to her, all the moreso with no memories to compare anything to. Still, it’s easy enough to figure out what Hibiki means, right? It’s a place of some sort.]

[....Still. It’s obviously hitting her hard. And Wendy can kind of understand not being able to go back to how things were before, even if she can’t remember it.]

I mean… You’re not alone, right? I don’t think anyone that was at that beach party can go back to things before.

This is a world that sparkles have abandoned.

[ That's the only conclusion she can draw from PriPara not being here. And she's trapped in it. She, Shikyoin Hibiki. The most sparkling idol of them all.

Her hands tremble on her cup. Focusing on this may be just a defense mechanism to keep her from realizing Ando is gone. Ando, and Princess Falulu, and...and...

This is why getting close to people is so dangerous. They leave you. ]

[What do sparkles have to do with- okay, you know what, nevermind. Hibiki is clearly in shock, and Wendy reaches over to carefully pat the god’s shoulder.]

Well, you can always bring the sparkles back, right? I mean, you’re a god.

[ Hibiki's only response to this is to begin to slide down in the seat. Down, down.

For crying out loud, she didn't get patted that hard. ]

[Hibiki for the love of god]

[Wendy sighs and sticks her head under the table to make sure that the god doesn’t end up on the floor.]

Nothing’s going to change if you just stay like that.

[ IF GOD LOVED HIBIKI, THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED! AND EVERYBODY LOVES HIBIKI, SO THE COSMOS IS OUT OF WHACK

unless you mean "for love of yourself, shikyoin hibiki, who is a god", in which case

carry on ]

What can change in a world without brilliance...

[ ...but that sets a thought in motion in her mind. PriPara isn't here.

But she is.

She is.

And she's.... ]

[Unwittingly, Wendy falls in line with what’s going through Hibiki’s head right now.]

Well- you’re here, right?

[ Clearly their souls resound in harmony.

Hibiki blinks some more. She thinks some more. She picks up her cup of water and she drinks some more. ]

I am.

[ She sits up straight and closes her eyes. She's here. She focuses on the fact that she, in this moment, is here. PriPara is gone, but she remains. Centered, like this, the world spins around her once more. It's in harmony again.

An idea, like a lone sun lighting the darkness as planets form around it, flickers to life.

And she's calm when she opens her eyes. ] ...I worried you.

[ Hibiki still sounds a little out of it. But it's more in a distracted way, now. Whatever she thought of is so nice, she wants to keep looking at it. ]

[As Hibiki straightens up, so does Wendy. As always, it’s a mystery what goes through that kind of mind, but, well, at least she’s normal. Drinking and breathing and not having sudden fits that end with her on the floor. Wendy lets her have her time, glancing towards the people passing them by occasionally.]

[When words come out- and words that make sense, finally- Wendy looks back to her.]

Of course you did. [No sugarcoating here.] But as long as you’re not hurt, it’s fine. How do you feel?

Also fine.

[ Hibiki drains her water. That's - an idea, isn't it? Even if PriPara isn't in Parajuku like it's supposed to be, a world without PriPara at all is unthinkable. If it's out there somewhere, she'll surely be able to find it. Even if it's impossible, she'll be able to do it.

She can do anything.

Yes, that thought makes her feel much better. ] Thanks to you.

[ She doesn't sparkle so much as exude warm fuzzies.

Which is, frankly, almost as scary as the disappearing under the table routine. ]

[The warm fuzzies are definitely not what she was expecting, and Wendy has to pause. Wow. Hibiki is actually capable of things like this instead of sparkles and arrogance. Pigs must be flying.]

Well, it’s not as if I could just leave you there, right?

[...Actually she could have, but she doesn’t hate Hibiki, so.]

[ Another slow blink. Hibiki looks down at her empty cup. Again. Again, someone defied the logic of this world full of lies to...Someone who doesn't even know her.

But whatever this tight feeling is in her chest can't be more important than the fact that she has a new plan to look at. A glorious vision of the future, floating in front of her. Close enough to touch, if she just reaches out...

Hibiki sits up straighter. ] Of course not. Facilitating the removal of talents such as mine from this pantheon would make you unworthy of this afterlife.

[ She says this fairly calmly, as if it's the most obvious thing ever. And not a smokescreen for avoiding thinking about how weird she feels right now.

Still, you get a smile. ] Shall we go?

[Don't make this weird, Hibiki]

[Crisis averted for now, Wendy stretches her arms over her head.]

Mmm, I think that's been enough excitement for one day. Lets go find the others so we don't think we got lost.

[....Or Hibiki run over, although no one but her would realize that was a possibility.]

[ Right, everybody else. Hibiki had forgotten about everybody else after pointedly pretending they didn't exist all day.

But she is capable of being a gentleman, so she nods. ] I'll escort you.

[ Let her have her ego trip. It'll make her feel better. ]

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